Abstract
BackgroundTo investigate the impact of presenting to an Emergency Department (ED) during pregnancy on postnatal depression (PND) in women in New South Wales (NSW), Australia.MethodAn epidemiological population-based study using linked data from the NSW Emergency Department Data Collection (EDDC), the NSW Perinatal Data Collection (PDC) and the NSW Admitted Patients Data Collection (APDC) was conducted. Women who gave birth to their first child in NSW between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2010 were followed up from pregnancy to the end of the first year after birth.ResultsThe study population includes 154,328 women who gave birth to their first child in NSW between 2006 and 2010. Of these, 31,764 women (20.58%) presented to ED during pregnancy (95%CI = 20.38–20.78). Women who presented to ED during pregnancy were more likely to be admitted to hospital for the diagnosis of unipolar depression (the adjusted relative risk (RR) =1.86, 95%CI = 1.49–2.31) and the diagnosis of mild mental and behavioural disorders associated with the puerperium (the adjusted RR = 1.55, 95%CI = 1.29–1.87) than those without ED presentation.ConclusionWomen’s hospital admissions for postnatal depression were associated with frequent ED presentations during pregnancy.
Highlights
To investigate the impact of presenting to an Emergency Department (ED) during pregnancy on postnatal depression (PND) in women in New South Wales (NSW), Australia
Postnatal depression (PND) referred to the principal diagnoses of depressive disorders including unipolar depressive disorder, mental and behavioural disorders associated with the puerperium and others in the first year after birth, including the day of birth
There was no significant difference in hospital admission rates for the diagnosis of mild or severe mental and behavioural disorders associated with the puerperium (F53.0 and F53.1) between women with and without ED presentations during pregnancy (Table 2 and Fig. 3)
Summary
To investigate the impact of presenting to an Emergency Department (ED) during pregnancy on postnatal depression (PND) in women in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Depression in the postnatal period is a major public health problem that can significantly impact the health of the whole family [1, 2]. One of our previous studies showed that the hospital admission rates for psychiatric disorders in the first year after birth increased significantly between 2001 and 2010, with a more marked increase from 2005 (1.16% in 2001, 2.28% in 2010) [3]. The impact of physical health problems during pregnancy on depression after birth (postnatal depression, PND) is unknown. We have not found any literature that explores the association between ED presentation during pregnancy and hospital admission for PND. We have used population-based linked data to: 1. describe the rate of ED presentations for women during pregnancy
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