Epidural Analgesia During Childbirth and Postpartum Depressive Symptoms: A Population-Based Longitudinal Cohort Study

Severe pain has been linked to depression, which raises the question of whether epidural analgesia (EDA) during childbirth is associated with a reduced risk of postpartum depression (PPD). This association has been explored previously, but the studies were restricted by small sample sizes and the inability to control for relevant confounders. This study aimed to investigate the association between the administration of EDA and the development of PPD after adjusting for sociodemographic, psychosocial, and obstetric variables.

Data were retrieved from the Biology, Affect, Stress, Imaging and Cognition (BASIC) project (2009-2017), a population-based longitudinal cohort study of pregnant women conducted at Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden. The outcome was PPD at 6 weeks postpartum, defined as a score of ≥12 points on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Information was collected through medical records and self-reported web-based questionnaires during pregnancy and 6 weeks after childbirth. Only primiparous women with spontaneous start of childbirth were included (n = 1503). The association between EDA and PPD was examined in multivariable logistic regression models, adjusting for sociodemographic, psychosocial, and obstetric variables. Results are presented as odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Of the 1503 women included in the analysis, 800 (53%) reported use of EDA during childbirth. PPD at 6 weeks postpartum was present in 193 (13%) women. EDA was not associated with higher odds of PPD at 6 weeks postpartum after adjusting for suspected confounders (age, fear of childbirth, antenatal depressive symptoms; adjusted OR [aOR] = 1.22; 95% CI, 0.87-1.72).

EDA was not associated with the risk of PPD at 6 weeks postpartum after adjusting for sociodemographic, psychosocial, and obstetric variables. However, these findings do not preclude a potential association between PPD and childbirth pain or other aspects of EDA that were not assessed in this study.