Factors in Accessing Routine Health Care: Mental Health and Postpartum Mothers.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Maternal Health
• Mental Health

Background:

• Maternal mortality and morbidity reduction strategies include increasing postpartum care access.
• Postpartum depression is a significant concern affecting new mothers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between self-reported postpartum depressive symptoms and accessing routine postpartum care visits (PPCV).

Main Methods:

• Retrospective study using Missouri's Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (MO PRAMS) data (2009-2014).
• Included 7,357 new mothers randomly selected from birth certificates, surveyed 2-4 months postpartum.
• Utilized a mixed-mode survey method for data collection.

Main Results:

• 14% of respondents (1,093 mothers) reported symptoms of postpartum depression.
• A weak association (p=.0254; OR=1.344) was found between reported depressive symptoms and not accessing routine PPCV.
• This represents a novel finding in maternal healthcare research.

Conclusions:

• A weakly negative association exists between self-reported postpartum depression symptoms and accessing routine postpartum care.
• Further research is recommended to validate this newly identified association.