The effects of an earthquake experienced during pregnancy and perinatal outcomes

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of an earthquake experienced during pregnancy on maternal stress, depression, and perinatal outcomes.

This descriptive-comparative study was conducted between April and May 2023 in four state hospitals affiliated to the Ministry of Health with 82 mothers (affected by the earthquake=41, not affected by the earthquake=41) who gave birth. Data were obtained with the Personal Information Form, Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale, and Traumatic Stress Symptom Checklist.

The mean age of the mothers who were earthquake affected in the study was 27.63±5.62. It was determined that earthquake-affected mothers gave birth prematurely and the birth weight of their infants was lower (p<0.05). It was determined that all of the earthquake-affected mothers experienced more stress according to the Traumatic Stress Symptom Checklist scale cut-off score (>25) and 73.2% of them showed more depressive symptoms according to the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale cut-off score (>13) (p<0.05). According to multivariate regression analysis, early gestational age and depressive symptoms were found to be risk factors for posttraumatic stress in mothers affected by the earthquake (p<0.05).

The study concluded that the earthquake-affected mothers showed depressive symptoms at least 6 weeks after giving birth, and all had increased levels of posttraumatic stress.