Trends in and complications associated with mental health condition diagnoses during delivery hospitalizations

Mental health conditions during delivery hospitalizations are not well characterized.

This study aimed to characterize the prevalence of maternal mental health condition diagnoses and associated risk during delivery hospitalizations in the United States.

The 2000 to 2018 National Inpatient Sample was used for this repeated cross-sectional analysis. Delivery hospitalizations of women aged 15 to 54 years with and without mental health condition diagnoses, including depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, bipolar spectrum disorder, and schizophrenia spectrum disorder, were identified. Temporal trends in mental health condition diagnoses during delivery hospitalizations were determined using the National Cancer Institute's Joinpoint Regression Program to estimate the average annual percent change with 95% confidence intervals. The trends in chronic conditions associated with mental health condition diagnoses, including asthma, pregestational diabetes mellitus, chronic hypertension, obesity, and substance use, were analyzed. The association between mental health conditions and the following adverse outcomes was determined: (1) severe maternal morbidity, (2) preeclampsia or gestational hypertension, (3) preterm delivery, (4) postpartum hemorrhage, (5) cesarean delivery, and (6) maternal mortality. Regression models for each outcome were performed with unadjusted and adjusted risk ratios as measures of effects.

Of 73,109,791 delivery hospitalizations, 2,316,963 (3.2%) had ≥1 associated mental health condition diagnosis. The proportion of delivery hospitalizations with a mental health condition increased from 0.6% in 2000 to 7.3% in 2018 (average annual percent change, 11.4%; 95% confidence interval, 10.3%-12.6%). Among deliveries in women with a mental health condition diagnosis, chronic health conditions, including asthma, pregestational diabetes mellitus, chronic hypertension, obesity, and substance use, increased from 14.9% in 2000 to 38.5% in 2018. Deliveries to women with a mental health condition diagnosis were associated with severe maternal morbidity (risk ratio, 1.88; 95% confidence interval, 1.86-1.90), preeclampsia and gestational hypertension (risk ratio, 1.59; 95% confidence interval, 1.58-1.60), preterm delivery (risk ratio, 1.35; 95% confidence interval, 1.35-1.36), postpartum hemorrhage (risk ratio, 1.37; 95% confidence interval, 1.36-1.38), cesarean delivery (risk ratio, 1.20; 95% confidence interval, 1.20-1.20), and maternal death (risk ratio, 1.31; 95% confidence interval, 1.12-1.56). The increased risk was retained in adjusted models.

The proportion of delivery hospitalizations with mental health condition diagnoses increased significantly throughout the study period. Mental health condition diagnoses were associated with other underlying chronic health conditions and a modestly increased risk of a range of adverse outcomes. The findings suggested that mental health conditions are an important risk factor in adverse maternal outcomes.