Pregnant women who deliver two or more babies are 43 percent more likely to suffer from depression 9 months after birth than their counterparts who deliver only one child. Researchers from Maryland studied 8096 women (including 7293 women who delivered a single infant and 776 who delivered multiple babies) to examine the link between multiple births and postnatal depression. The women were surveyed 9 months after the birth of their children. A standard questionnaire was used to determine if the women were depressed or not. Nineteen percent of women with multiple babies had moderate or severe symptoms of depression compared with 16 percent of mothers of single infants. On final analysis, mothers of multiple infants were 43 percent more likely to have such symptoms than were mothers of single infants. Among mothers of multiple births, having received infertility counselling had no significant impact on the development of depression, after accounting for education and socioeconomic status. The researchers concluded that undergoing a high-risk pregnancy and delivering multiple births are stressful life events. The unique demands of parenting multiple infants can result in high levels of parental stress, fatigue, and social isolation.
Pediatrics
April 2009