Poor sleep quality of third trimester exacerbates the risk of experiencing postnatal depression

This study sought to investigate the effects of subjectively-determined poor prenatal sleep quality on postnatal depression (PND), after adjusting for prenatal psychological distress and perceived stress. From March 2016 to December 2017, we conducted a prospective longitudinal study using a convenience sample of 228 perinatal women. The participants completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the 10-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) during the third trimester (Time 1 or T1), and completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at 1 months postpartum (Time 2 or T2). Logistic regression analyses were used to analyze the associations between subjective prenatal sleep quality and postnatal depression. The results showed that prenatal psychological distress (OR = 2.551, 95% CI = 1.221 ~ 5.329, P = 0.013) and perceived stress (OR = 2.881, 95% CI = 1.398 ~ 5.938, P= 0.007) were the strongest predictors of PND. Independent of this, poor subjective sleep quality (OR = 2.391, 95% CI = 1.072 ~ 5.556, P = 0.044) during pregnancy also predicted postnatal depressive symptoms. Treatment of psychological distress and perceived stress appears important for reducing the incidence of PND. Nonetheless, future studies might explore treatments to improve prenatal sleep quality.