TY - JOUR
T1 - Prospective risk from prenatal anxiety to post traumatic stress following childbirth
T2 - The mediating effects of acute stress assessed during the postnatal hospital stay and preliminary evidence for moderating effects of doula care
AU - Rousseau, Sofie
AU - Katz, Danielle
AU - Shlomi-Polachek, Inbal
AU - Frenkel, Tahl I.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - Objective: Growing literature has identified childbirth as a potentially traumatic event, following which mothers may develop symptoms of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Following-Childbirth. The current study is the first to prospectively examine a pathway of risk from mothers’ prenatal trait-anxiety, to Acute-Stress-Immediately-Following-Childbirth, and later symptoms of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Following-Childbirth, in a low-risk community sample. Auxiliary analyses explored whether doula care during childbirth moderated risk. Method: 149 pregnant women were randomly selected. Prenatal trait-anxiety was assessed toward the end of pregnancy, Acute-Stress-Immediately-Following-Childbirth at two-days post-partum, and symptoms of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Following-Childbirth at one-month post-partum. Results: Results indicated a significant indirect pathway from prenatal trait-anxiety to Post-Traumatic-Stress-Following-Childbirth, through Acute-Stress-Immediately-Following-Childbirth. Two groups were generated ad hoc for auxiliary analyses: participants who opted to receive doula care during childbirth (n=21; 14%) versus participants who received care as usual (n=128; 86%). Analyses provided preliminary support for doula care as a potential moderator of risk. Conclusions: Results point toward prenatal trait-anxiety and Acute-Stress-Immediately-Following-Childbirth as significant risk factors for Post-Traumatic-Stress-Following-Childbirth. Findings inform preventive screening implicating the prenatal period as well as the postnatal hospital stay as important time windows for preventive screening. Finally, preliminary support for moderating effects of doula care suggest that preventive interventions administered during the perinatal period may effectively reduce anxiety-related risk for Post-Traumatic-Stress-Following-Childbirth.
AB - Objective: Growing literature has identified childbirth as a potentially traumatic event, following which mothers may develop symptoms of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Following-Childbirth. The current study is the first to prospectively examine a pathway of risk from mothers’ prenatal trait-anxiety, to Acute-Stress-Immediately-Following-Childbirth, and later symptoms of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Following-Childbirth, in a low-risk community sample. Auxiliary analyses explored whether doula care during childbirth moderated risk. Method: 149 pregnant women were randomly selected. Prenatal trait-anxiety was assessed toward the end of pregnancy, Acute-Stress-Immediately-Following-Childbirth at two-days post-partum, and symptoms of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Following-Childbirth at one-month post-partum. Results: Results indicated a significant indirect pathway from prenatal trait-anxiety to Post-Traumatic-Stress-Following-Childbirth, through Acute-Stress-Immediately-Following-Childbirth. Two groups were generated ad hoc for auxiliary analyses: participants who opted to receive doula care during childbirth (n=21; 14%) versus participants who received care as usual (n=128; 86%). Analyses provided preliminary support for doula care as a potential moderator of risk. Conclusions: Results point toward prenatal trait-anxiety and Acute-Stress-Immediately-Following-Childbirth as significant risk factors for Post-Traumatic-Stress-Following-Childbirth. Findings inform preventive screening implicating the prenatal period as well as the postnatal hospital stay as important time windows for preventive screening. Finally, preliminary support for moderating effects of doula care suggest that preventive interventions administered during the perinatal period may effectively reduce anxiety-related risk for Post-Traumatic-Stress-Following-Childbirth.
KW - Acute stress
KW - Childbirth
KW - Postpartum traumatic stress
KW - Pregnancy
KW - Trait anxiety
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85116134315&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.midw.2021.103143
DO - 10.1016/j.midw.2021.103143
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C2 - 34610495
AN - SCOPUS:85116134315
SN - 0266-6138
VL - 103
JO - Midwifery
JF - Midwifery
M1 - 103143
ER -