Influence of Newborns’ Characteristics on Postpartum Depression: The Impact of Birth Season and Male Sex in a Romanian Cohort Study

Abstract

Background: Although risk factors associated with maternal postpartum depression (PPD) have been recognized, it is still unknown how some newborn characteristics could influence the appearance of PPD. Aim: Our research aimed to unravel the impact of a newborn’s features on women with PPD. Methods: The study was conducted in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at our University Emergency County Hospital, between August 2019 and April 2021. We included 904 women from the second day of the postpartum period, divided into two groups: women with PPD (n = 236) and control (i.e., women without PPD, n = 668), by using the Edinburg Postpartum Depression Scale. Characteristic information on the newborns (i.e., the months in which they were born, premature delivery, birth weight, or sex) was evaluated. Results: Our results suggest that the winter season (i.e., December and January months, p = 0.01) births and male newborns (p = 0.02) were strongly related with the appearance of depressive symptoms during the postpartum period. Conclusions: Therefore, our study sustains that women who give birth to male newborns in the winter season are more prone to developing PPD. This should be analyzed by all public health care systems in order to prevent such a condition earlier in certain groups of women.

Keywords

• postpartum depression
• birth
• winter season
• male sex
• public health system