Effect of Painless Labor on Postpartum Depression

Aims Postpartum depression is a common event after delivery. Among some possible causes, pain is an important contributing factor which can play role in increasing psychiatric disease. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of neuraxial analgesia methods on reducing incidence of postpartum depression. Materials & Methods 280 pregnant women (140 cases, 140 controls) without depression history who referred for vaginal delivery in the maternity ward of Taleghani teaching hospital, from February 2016 until February 2017 were participated in this randomized clinical trial. Samples were selected by random sampling method. Depression risk was assessed by Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the pain was measured by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Data were analyzed by SPSS 22 using Mann-whitney test and independent t-test for comparing of quantitative mean values. The association between qualitative variables was assessed by Chi square and exact Fisher tests. Findings Postpartum depression occurred in the painless delivery group and natural delivery group. There was statistically significant difference between them (p=0.04). It means that depression rate in painless delivery group was lower than natural delivery group. High Edinburg score was associated with high risk of depression. Conclusion Postpartum depression in women with painless delivery is lower comparison to women with natural delivery.

Keywords:

Postpartum Depression , Pregnancy , Pain , Labor , Delivery