Prospective associations between prepartum physical activity, birth experience, and maternal depressive symptoms in the postpartum period: Insights from the population-based DREAM cohort study.

Background: This study aims to examine whether physical activity (PA) before and during pregnancy and birth experience predict incident postpartum depressive (PPD) symptoms. Because PA may increase endurance and feelings of physical control, it may contribute to a positive birth experience and birth experience may mediate the association between PA before and during pregnancy and PPD symptoms.

Methods: The study is part of the prospective-longitudinal cohort study "Dresden Study on Parenting, Work, and Mental Health" (DREAM).