Reducing pain in birth leads to less postpartum depression

[Chowder Head]

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pain-meds-i ... epression/

Pain meds in childbirth may reduce postpartum depression. Interesting to think about.

[Grace]

I have nothing against epidurals (I ended up getting one after about 18hrs of hard labor), but the sample size on this study was pretty small at barely over 200 and there is a lot of existing research saying the opposite. I think it's way more complicated than epidural=no PPD no epidural=PPD. It's probably a lot more about expectations vs reality of your birth. Like if you WANTED an epi but didn't get one you might be more apt to get PPD than someone who didn't want one to begin with.

[PrairieGirl]

I have nothing against epidurals (I ended up getting one after about 18hrs of hard labor), but the sample size on this study was pretty small at barely over 200 and there is a lot of existing research saying the opposite. I think it's way more complicated than epidural=no PPD no epidural=PPD. It's probably a lot more about expectations vs reality of your birth. Like if you WANTED an epi but didn't get one you might be more apt to get PPD than someone who didn't want one to begin with.

Interesting read. I agree with the above poster that it might be related more to birth plan expectations. Let's face it - birth does not always go according to your perfect plan, and some new moms are disappointed with the way things went. This could mean having C-section vs. natural birth, giving in and getting an epidural when they swore they'd not use pain meds, or even something simpler like not using a birthing ball or not being able to walk as much as you wanted. All this, plus those raging hormones, could contribute to disappointment after a birth.

[apple1]

The researchers found 14 percent of the women in the study who were given an epidural had postpartum depression, while nearly 35 percent of women who did not receive anything to control pain during childbirth presented with postpartum depression.

The link did not say no epi = PPD, epi = no PPD. It said that they observed differing percentages of PPD in the two groups. This is hugely different.

I think everyone knows that there are many factors.

[Rachel333]

I just read an article within the last few days about how views on PPD are changing: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/healt ... rc=me&_r=0

Basically, it's a lot more common than previously thought, it isn't always postpartum and can start during pregnancy, and isn't even always depression as many other psychiatric symptoms can present.

This is all interesting information anyway. I definitely think it's something we need to know more about and I'll be interested to see further studies about the role of pain meds.