Stability and change in maternal wellbeing and illbeing from pregnancy to three years postpartum

Motherhood affects women's mental health, encompassing aspects of both wellbeing and illbeing. This study investigated stability and change in wellbeing (i.e., relationship satisfaction and positive affect) and illbeing (i.e., depressive and anxiety symptoms) from pregnancy to three years postpartum. We further investigated the mutual and dynamic relations between these constructs over time and the role of genetic propensities in their time-invariant stability.

This four-wave longitudinal study included 83,124 women from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) linked to the Medical Birth Registry of Norway. Data were collected during pregnancy (30 weeks) and at 6, 18 and 36 months postpartum. Wellbeing and illbeing were based on the Relationship Satisfaction Scale, the Differential Emotions Scale and Hopkins Symptoms Checklist-8. Genetics were measured by the wellbeing spectrum polygenic index. Analyses were based on random intercept cross-lagged panel models using R.

All four outcomes showed high stability and were mutually interconnected over time, with abundant cross-lagged predictions. The period of greatest instability was from pregnancy to 6 months postpartum, followed by increasing stability. Prenatal relationship satisfaction played a crucial role in maternal mental health postpartum. Women's genetic propensity to wellbeing contributed to time-invariant stability of all four constructs.

Understanding the mutual relationship between different aspects of wellbeing and illbeing allows for identifying potential targets for health promotion interventions. Time-invariant stability was partially explained by genetics. Maternal wellbeing and illbeing develop in an interdependent way from pregnancy to 36 months postpartum.