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Examining the Relationship Between Return to Work After Giving Birth and Maternal Mental Health: A Systematic Review

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Abstract

Introduction

The negative impacts of mental health disorders on the well-being of women and their infants are clear. However, less is known about the relationship between returning to work after giving birth and mental health. Previous reviews examined the relationship between maternity leave and mental health, but we defined return to work as the process of returning to part-time or full-time work after giving birth and caring for infant. This systematic review aims to: (1) describe operational definitions for return to work and (2) describe the evidence on the relationship between return to work and maternal mental health.

Methods

We searched PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Web of Science for peer-reviewed studies. Articles were selected if they were published within the past 20 years, examined at least one mental health condition (e.g., depression, anxiety), and included a study sample of U.S. working mothers.

Results

We identified 20 articles published between 2001 and 2020. We found conflicting evidence from longitudinal and cross-sectional data demonstrating that return to work was associated with improvements and negative consequences to mental health. Work-related predictors of mental health included: access to paid maternity leave, work–family conflict, total workload, job flexibility, and coworker support.

Discussion

This review provides evidence that return to work and mental health are related, though the study samples have limited generalizability to all U.S. working mothers. More research is needed to understand the direction of this relationship throughout the perinatal period and how return to work affects other mental health conditions (e.g., anxiety, stress).

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  1. Department of Health Promotion and Behavior, University of Georgia, 100 Foster Road, 145 Wright Hall, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Rachel Elizabeth McCardel, Emily Hannah Loedding & Heather Marie Padilla

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  1. Rachel Elizabeth McCardel
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  3. Heather Marie Padilla
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Contributions

REM and HMP developed the research question, eligibility criteria to include/exclude articles, and protocol for conducting this systematic review. REM and EHL conducted the searches to locate articles to include in the review, screened the articles to determine eligibility, extracted data from the articles, and rated the quality of the articles. All authors contributed to writing the manuscript. HMP and EHL reviewed the manuscript to provide REM with feedback. REM prepared the final draft of the manuscript for submission.

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Correspondence to Rachel Elizabeth McCardel.

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McCardel, R.E., Loedding, E.H. & Padilla, H.M. Examining the Relationship Between Return to Work After Giving Birth and Maternal Mental Health: A Systematic Review. Matern Child Health J 26, 1917–1943 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-022-03489-0

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