Effect of Fathers’ Presence and Involvement in Newborn Care in the NICU on Mothers’ Symptoms of Postpartum Depression

Abstract

ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence of symptoms of postpartum depression (PPD) and examine how fathers’ presence and involvement in the care of their newborns affect symptoms of PPD within the first 2 weeks after birth among mothers with newborns in the NICU. DesignObservational cohort study. SettingOpen-bay, 40-bed, tertiary level NICU in Eastern Canada. ParticipantsMothers (N = 105) of newborns who were anticipated to survive and required more than 5 days of hospitalization in the NICU. MethodsParticipants completed the Postpartum Depression Screening Scale (PDSS) 14 days after they gave birth. They kept daily diaries to record the amount of time that fathers spent by the newborns’ bedsides (i.e., presence) and actively caring for their newborns (i.e., involvement such as skin to skin). Participants completed daily diaries from the time of enrollment in the study until their newborns were discharged home. We analyzed the data using linear regression; score on the PDSS was the dependent variable, and fathers’ presence and involvement were the independent variables. We adjusted for covariates. ResultsThe prevalence of positive screening for symptoms of major PPD was 24.1% (n = 20), and the prevalence of significant symptoms of PPD was 27.7% (n = 23). Participants reported that fathers were present in the NICU an average of 3.8 hours per day and were actively involved with their newborns 53% of the time. Fathers’ involvement was significantly associated with lower scores on the PDSS (adjusted β = −3.85; 95% confidence interval [CI] [−6.10, −1.60]). A history of anxiety was significantly associated with greater scores on the PDSS (adjusted β = 12.06, 95% CI [2.07, 22.05]). Maternal age and income less than $50,000 CAD were marginally associated with greater scores on the PDSS (adjusted β = −0.86, 95% CI [−1.77, 0.05] and adjusted β = 10.69, 95% CI [−0.73, 22.11], respectively). The overall explained variance in the PDSS scores with the independent variables was R2 = 0.35. ConclusionFathers’ involvement in the care of their newborns in the NICU was significantly associated with fewer symptoms of PPD among mothers. We recommend research with targeted interventions to promote fathers’ involvement in the NICU to potentially mitigate the symptoms of PPD among mothers of newborns in the NICU.