Peripartum length of stay for women with depressive symptoms during pregnancy.

Background: Approximately 1 in 10 women suffers from depression during pregnancy. Little is known about whether antepartum depression affects a mother's length of stay at delivery. We aimed to compare peripartum length of stay in women with and without depressive symptoms during pregnancy.

Methods: This study involved secondary data analysis of a larger study exploring antepartum depression. Each subject completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). We used bivariate analyses to compare patient characteristics of women with and without an elevated CES-D, and we used a multivariate Poisson regression to evaluate predictors of length of stay.

Results: The study sample included 867 pregnant women. Overall, 18% of study subjects scored >or=16 on the CES-D. In bivariate analyses, a longer stay was associated with an elevated CES-D and minority race, antepartum complications, cesarean delivery, prematurity, multiple gestation, and neonatal length of stay. In the final multivariate model adjusting for sociodemographic, antepartum, and obstetric factors, an elevated CES-D was associated with a significantly longer peripartum stay (0.26 days, CI 0.04-0.48).

Conclusions: Depressive symptoms during pregnancy predict an increase in peripartum length of stay.