Key result
Having an infant with severe congenital heart defects was associated with significantly heightened symptoms of maternal depression and anxiety at 6, 18, and 36 months postpartum compared to controls.
Why the study?
Does having an infant with a congenital heart defect compromise maternal mental health from pregnancy to 36 months postpartum?
Cohort (n=36,578)
Does having an infant with a congenital heart defect compromise maternal mental health from pregnancy to 36 months postpartum?
Mothers of infants with severe congenital heart defects experience significantly heightened symptoms of depression and anxiety up to 36 months postpartum compared to controls.
May prompt closer maternal mental health surveillance after severe infant CHD; leaves open causal effects and intervention efficacy.
OBJECTIVE: To chart mothers' trajectories of mental health from pregnancy to 36 months postpartum in order to investigate the association between infants' congenital heart defects (CHD) and compromised maternal mental health. METHODS: Mothers of infants with mild, moderate, or severe CHD (n = 141) and mothers (n = 36,437) enrolled in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study were assessed at regular intervals from pregnancy up to 36 months postpartum, including measurements at 6 and 18 months, using an 8-item version of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25. RESULTS: Mean score trajectories of SCL-8 for mothers of infants with severe CHD deviated significantly from cohort controls 6, 18, and 36 months postpartum, indicating heightened symptoms of depression and anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Mothers of infants with severe CHD are at risk of compromised mental health from delivery to 36 months postpartum. Strain due to CHD-related interventions is identified as a possible partial mediator of the distress.
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Solberg et al. (2012) conducted a cohort in Mothers of infants with congenital heart defects (n=36,578). Infant with congenital heart defects (CHD) vs. Cohort controls was evaluated on Mental health trajectories (symptoms of depression and anxiety measured by SCL-8). Having an infant with severe congenital heart defects was associated with significantly heightened symptoms of maternal depression and anxiety at 6, 18, and 36 months postpartum compared to controls.
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