Stability and change in depressive symptoms from pregnancy to two months postpartum in childbearing immigrant women

The present study explored changes in mental health and functional status from pregnancy to 2 months postpartum in a sample of 106 childbearing immigrant women. Three sets of variables were examined in relation to postpartum depressive symptomatology: (1) prenatal depression, worries, and somatic symptoms; (2) social relationships (marital quality and social support), and (3) factors related to migration (premigration stress and length of stay in the host country). We found that 37.7% of the women in this community sample scored above the cutpoint of 12 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; prenatal depressive and somatic symptoms, as well as marital quality, were the best predictors of postpartum depressive symptomatology. An examination of differing trajectories from pregnancy to the postpartum period suggests that women with relatively few somatic complaints, low levels of perinatal stress, and satisfactory marital relations were less likely to exhibit mental health problems during pregnancy and postpartum. Women who were not depressed prenatally but reported postpartum depressive symptomatology exhibited several predisposing risk factors during pregnancy: many somatic complaints, high perinatal anxiety, and premigration stress. Women who were depressed during pregnancy but not postpartum reported improved physical function after childbirth. The implications of these findings for screening childbearing immigrant women are discussed.