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Becoming a mother for the first time is a huge upheaval, and for a number of women, once is enough. A study from the national psychiatric project iPSYCH shows that 31 percent of the women who experienced mental disorders within the first six months after giving birth to their first child,  do not have more children. In comparison, the figure for mothers who do not suffer a mental disorder is only 18 percent.

"The recurrence risks of postpartum mental disorders are substantial. If women avoid another pregnancy due to a fear of relapse, then it’s important to tell them that it’s possible to prevent relapses. We recommend that they go to their general practitioners or psychiatrists to find help if they want to have more children." says Dr. Xiaoqin Liu, who  led the study. She is part of iPSYCH and is affiliated with the National Centre for Register-based Research at Aarhus University.

"To reduce the risk of relapse, a treatment plan can be drawn-up that focuses on the woman's individual needs." says Xiaoqin Liu.

Xiaoqin Liu and her colleagues analysed data from 414,571 women who gave birth to their first child between 1997 and 2015 in Denmark. They identified the women with postpartum mental disorders following childbirth by looking at whether the women were prescribed psychotropic drugs or were in contact with the hospital in regard to mental disorders during the first six months after giving birth.

Harder to become pregnant

The results have just been published in the international journal Human Reproduction.

According to the researchers, in addition to fear of relapse,  other possible explanations for the lower rate of reproduction in women with postpartum mental disorders may be that they have greater difficulty becoming pregnant or have a more problematic relationship with their partner.

”We need to explore the reason why these women choose not to have more children further .” says Xiaoqin Liu.

She also points out that the study has some limitations. They did not have precise information about stillbirths and abortions. Only pregnancies that led to live births were included in the study. Another limitation is that it may be that not all of the women with mental disorders received medication or treatment in a hospital.

"In addition, it may not be possible to generalize the findings of the study to populations in other countries. Denmark offers free and easily accessible healthcare services for everyone, so we believe that our results can be informative for other similar populations, even though we cannot rule out local differences." says Xiaoqin Liu.

Background for the results:

• The study is a register-based study. Data from 414,571 women who gave birth to their first child between 1997 and 2015 in Denmark was analysed. The researchers followed the women a maximum of 19.5 years from the date of the first liveborn delivery until the next birth, emigration, death, the day they turned forty-five years, or June 2016, whichever took place first.
• The study is supported by the Lundbeck Foundation and Danish Council for Independent Research.
• The scientific article "Postpartum psychiatric disorders and subsequent live birth: a population-based cohort study in Denmark" can be read in Human Reproduction.

Contact

Seniorforsker Xiaoqin Liu
Aarhus Universitet, Department of Economics and Business Economics,
National Centre for Register-based Research
Phone: 8716 5358
Mail lxq@econ.au.dk