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Assisted conception is a risk factor for postnatal mood disturbance and early parenting difficulties
Jane R W Fisher1, Karin Hammarberg, H W Gordon Baker
1Key Centre for Women's Health in Society, School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. jrwf@unimelb.edu.au
Objective:
To investigate whether assisted conception is associated with an increased risk of admission to a residential early parenting program for treatment of maternal mood disorder or infant feeding or sleeping disorders in the postpartum year.
Design:
Systematic audit of consecutive medical records.
Setting:
Masada Private Hospital Mother Baby Unit (MPHMBU), Melbourne, Australia.
Patient(S):
Medical records of all mother-infant dyads admitted to MPHMBU between July 2000 and August 2002.
Intervention(S):
None.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Modes of conception and delivery of index infant, maternal and infant age on admission, multiplicity of birth, infant birth weight, and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale scores.
Result(S):
A total of 745 records were audited, and mode of conception was recorded in 526 (70.6%) of records. Overall 6% (45/745) of the admitted infants had been conceived through assisted reproductive technologies compared with 1.52% in the general population (relative risk 4.0; 95% confidence interval, 3.0-5.4). Mothers who had conceived with assisted reproductive technologies were older and more likely to have had cesarean and multiple births than those who conceived spontaneously.
Conclusions:
Assisted conception appears to be associated with a significantly increased rate of early parenting difficulties. Women who experience assisted conception may require additional support before and after their babies are born.
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