Prenatal exposure to poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances and postpartum depression in women with twin pregnancies.

Int J Hyg Environ Health

Institute of Maternal and Child Health, Wuhan Children's Hospital (Wuhan Maternal and Child Healthcare Hospital), Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China. Electronic address:

Published: March 2024

Background: Women with multiple pregnancies are vulnerable to experience postpartum depression (PPD). Emerging evidence indicates an association between poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure and PPD in women delivering singletons. The health risks of PFAS may also be present in women delivering twins.

Objective: To estimate the impacts of prenatal PFAS exposure on the risk of PPD in women with twin pregnancies.

Methods: Our study included 150 mothers who gave birth to twins and were enrolled in the Wuhan Twin Birth Cohort. The concentrations of maternal plasma PFAS were measured in each trimester and averaged. Eight individual PFAS were included in analyses. We used Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale to evaluate maternal depression at early pregnancy and 1 and 6 months after childbirth. The outcome was dichotomized using a cutoff value of ≥10 for main analyses. Associations were examined using multiple informant models and modified Poisson regressions. PFAS mixture effects were estimated using quantile g-computation.

Results: Using quantile g-computation models, a quartile increase in the PFAS mixture during the first, second, third, and average pregnancy was significantly associated with a relative risk (RR) of 1.73 (95% CI: 1.42, 2.12), 1.54 (95% CI: 1.27, 1.84), 1.75 (95% CI: 1.49, 2.08), and 1.63 (95% CI: 1.35, 1.97) for PPD at 6 months after childbirth, respectively. The results of the single-PFAS models also indicated significant positive associations between individual PFAS and PPD at both 1 and 6 months.

Conclusions: The first study of women with twin pregnancies suggests that prenatal exposure to PFAS increases PPD risk up to 6 months postpartum. Twin pregnant women should receive long-term follow-up after delivery and extensive social support.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2024.114324DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

women twin
12
pfas
9
prenatal exposure
8
poly- perfluoroalkyl
8
perfluoroalkyl substances
8
postpartum depression
8
twin pregnancies
8
pfas exposure
8
ppd women
8
women delivering
8

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!