Anxiety, depression, and birth outcomes in a cohort of unmedicated women

Abstract

Background

Even though most of the systematic reviews suggest that depression and anxiety are related to poor neonatal outcomes, it is not yet clear whether a dose–response effect exists.

Aim

The aim of the present study is to evaluate the amount of depressive and anxiety symptoms in a cohort of pregnant women and its effect on their newborns.

Methods

Two hundred ninety-nine women were assessed for anxiety and depressive disorders and anxious and depressive symptoms at near monthly intervals throughout pregnancy. At the time of delivery, we collected the newborns’ gestational age, birth weight and the Apgar score at 1 and 5 min.

Results

Sixty-seven women were diagnosed as depressed and 43 had an anxious disorder. After controlling for confounding variables only the overall levels of anxiety during pregnancy were negatively associated with birth weight (B = −5.76; 95% CI = −10.96, −2.81), suggesting the existence of a “dose–response” effect. The birth outcomes in mildly depressed pregnant women were similar to those of nondepressed women.

Conclusion

Anxiety symptoms, beyond a categorical diagnosis, are associated with low birth weight and should be recognized and properly treated during pregnancy.

Keywords:

• Anxiety
• Apgar score
• birth-weight
• depression
• dose–response
• gestational age
• pregnancy

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Paraggio and Dr. Giaracuni for the data collection and their contribution to study. A special thank goes to Alan McDonald for the language editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.