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Postpartum depressive symptoms and the combined load of paid and unpaid work: a longitudinal analysis

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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the effects of total workload and other work-related factors on postpartum depression in the first 6 months after childbirth, utilizing a hybrid model of health and workforce participation.

Methods

We utilized data from the Maternal Postpartum Health Study collected in 2001 from a prospective cohort of 817 employed women who delivered in three community hospitals in Minnesota. Interviewers collected data at enrollment and 5 weeks, 11 weeks, and 6 months after childbirth. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale measured postpartum depression. Independent variables included total workload (paid and unpaid work), job flexibility, supervisor and coworker support, available social support, job satisfaction, infant sleep problems, infant irritable temperament, and breastfeeding.

Results

Total average daily workload increased from 14.4 h (6.8 h of paid work; 7.1% working at 5 weeks postpartum) to 15.0 h (7.9 h of paid work; 87% working at 6 months postpartum) over the 6 months. Fixed effects regression analyses showed worse depression scores were associated with higher total workload, lower job flexibility, lower social support, an infant with sleep problems, and breastfeeding.

Conclusions

Working mothers of reproductive years may find the study results valuable as they consider merging their work and parenting roles after childbirth. Future studies should examine the specific mechanisms through which total workload affects postpartum depressive symptoms.

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Notes

  1. Under the FMLA, employees are eligible if they have worked for a covered employer for at least one year, for 1,250 h over the previous 12 months (approximately a 60% effort), and if at least 50 employees are employed by the employer within 75 miles. (http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/statutes/fmla.htm).

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grant # 5 R18 OH003605-05 from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIOSH.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Services Administration, University of Maryland, 3310B School of Public Health Building, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Rada K. Dagher

  2. Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Patricia M. McGovern

  3. Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Bryan E. Dowd

  4. Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Ulf Lundberg

Authors
  1. Rada K. Dagher
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  2. Patricia M. McGovern
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  3. Bryan E. Dowd
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  4. Ulf Lundberg
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rada K. Dagher.

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Dagher, R.K., McGovern, P.M., Dowd, B.E. et al. Postpartum depressive symptoms and the combined load of paid and unpaid work: a longitudinal analysis. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 84, 735–743 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-011-0626-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-011-0626-7

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