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Postpartum depression and timing of spousal military deployment relative to pregnancy and delivery

  • Maternal-Fetal Medicine
  • Published:
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

This study aimed to determine the relationship between spousal deployment and postpartum depression diagnosis among U.S. military wives, accounting for the timing of deployment with respect to pregnancy and delivery.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study was conducted to evaluate the association between spousal deployment and postpartum depression among pregnant wives of active-duty service members. Electronic medical records for 161,454 births occurring between 2004 and 2009 were used to define postpartum depression. Three non-mutually exclusive exposure variables were created to categorize deployments as occurring before, during, or after the infant’s delivery. A multivariable logistic regression model mutually adjusted for these exposure variables was fitted, producing an odds ratio for each of the three timing categories.

Results

A modest significant association was detected only in those whose husbands deployed in pregnancy and returned after delivery (i.e., deployed during delivery) [odds ratio (OR) 1.10, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.04–1.15]. An interactive effect between preexisting depression or anxiety and deployment during delivery was also detected in the data (OR 1.13, 95 % CI 1.07–1.20 for those without a preexisting diagnosis; OR 0.87, 95 % CI 0.80–0.95 for those with a preexisting diagnosis).

Conclusion

Health care providers should continue to be aware of spousal deployment as a military-unique stressor in this population and rigorously screen for potential symptoms of postpartum depression, especially among those whose husbands are absent at delivery.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Gia Gumbs, Denise Lovec-Jenkins, Nancy Crum-Cianflone, Melissa Frasco, Hector Lemus, and Michelle LeWark from the Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, California, and Andrea Shields from Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio. The authors report no potential conflicts of interest. Presented at the San Diego Epidemiology Research Exchange, May 2, 2014, San Diego, California.

Conflict of interest

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Deployment Health Research Department, Naval Health Research Center, 140 Sylvester Road, San Diego, CA, 92106-3521, USA

    Jordan A. Levine, Anna T. Bukowinski, Carter J. Sevick & Ava Marie S. Conlin

  2. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, OH, 45433, USA

    Krista M. Mehlhaff

Authors
  1. Jordan A. Levine
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  2. Anna T. Bukowinski
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  3. Carter J. Sevick
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  4. Krista M. Mehlhaff
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  5. Ava Marie S. Conlin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jordan A. Levine.

Additional information

Report number 14-32, supported by the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, under Work Unit No. 60504. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Navy, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. U.S. Government Work (17 USC 105). Not copyrighted in the U.S. This research has been conducted in compliance with all applicable federal regulations governing the protection of human subjects in research (protocol NHRC.2007.0002).

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Levine, J.A., Bukowinski, A.T., Sevick, C.J. et al. Postpartum depression and timing of spousal military deployment relative to pregnancy and delivery. Arch Gynecol Obstet 292, 549–558 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-015-3672-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-015-3672-7

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