Postpartum depression in women with maternal near miss: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background postpartum depression (PPD) is one of the psychological complications of mothers who have experienced severe maternal morbidity/maternal near miss (SMM/MNM) which can adversely affect the wellbeing of mothers, new born infants and other family members, but the risk level in this group is unclear. Therefore, we did a meta-analysis to ascertain the relationship PPD with MNM/SMM. Material and methods The authors searched relevant studies in databases (Web of Science, PubMed, EMBASE, Clinikalkey, Scopus).The summary odds ratio (OR) along with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated by use of random or fixed effects models. Results Four studies were included in qualitative synthesis. The pooled analysis revealed that PPD was significantly associated with an increased risk of MNM/SMM (OR = 1.83; 95% CI 1.37-2.44, p = 0.027). Conclusion The results show that the risk of PPD in the MNM mothers are twice as likely as women without MNM. Therefore, more attention should be paid to psychological symptoms such as depression in MNM in order to reduce the long-term burden of maternal morbidity.