Neuraxial labour analgesia is associated with a reduced risk of maternal depression at 2 years after childbirth A multicentre, prospective, longitudinal study

BACKGROUND Severe labour pain is an important risk factor of postpartum depression, and early depression is associated with an increased risk of long-term depression; whereas the use of epidural analgesia during labour decreases the risk of postpartum depression. OBJECTIVE To investigate whether neuraxial labour analgesia was associated with a decreased risk of 2-year depression. DESIGN This was a multicentre, prospective, longitudinal study. SETTING The study was performed in Peking University First Hospital, Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital and Haidian Maternal and Child Health Hospital in Beijing, China, between 1 August 2014 and 25 April 2017. PATIENTS Five hundred ninety-nine nulliparous women with single-term cephalic pregnancy preparing for vaginal delivery were enrolled. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Depressive symptoms were screened with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale at delivery-room admission, 6-week postpartum and 2 years after childbirth. A score of 10 or higher was used as the threshold of depression. The primary endpoint was the presence of depression at 2 years after childbirth. The association between the use of neuraxial labour analgesia and the development of 2-year depression was analysed with a multivariable logistic regression model. RESULTS Five hundred and eight parturients completed 2-year follow-up. Of these, 368 (72.4%) received neuraxial analgesia during labour and 140 (27.6%) did not. The percentage with 2-year depression was lower in those with neuraxial labour analgesia than in those without (7.3 [27/368] vs. 13.6% [19/140]; P = 0.029). After correction for confounding factors, the use of neuraxial analgesia during labour was associated with a significantly decreased risk of 2-year depression (odds ratio 0.455, 95% confidence interval 0.230 to 0.898; P = 0.023). CONCLUSION For nulliparous women with single-term cephalic pregnancy planning for vaginal delivery, the use of neuraxial analgesia during labour was associated with a reduced risk of maternal depression at 2 years after childbirth.