Sara Kornfield on Postpartum Depression, Mental Health and Mother-Infant Bonding During COVID-19

A Health Podyssey

Postpartum depression is a common condition among people who give birth. Within four weeks of childbirth, 13% of women experience postpartum depression with as many as 19% of women affected three months postpartum.

Mothers who experienced postpartum depression are more likely to experience impaired mother-infant bonding, which has been linked to increased risk for infant maltreatment and socio-emotional behavior and cognitive problems.

Now, acute stress during pregnancy can increase the risk of postpartum depression. The current global COVID-19 pandemic represents a stressor that may have significant repercussions for postpartum depression risk and mother-child relationship development.

Sara Kornfield, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, joins Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil on A Health Podyssey to discuss the relationship between COVID-19, postpartum depression, and mother-infant bonding.

Kornfield and coauthors recently published a paper in the October 2021 issue of Health Affairs - which is dedicated to the topic of perinatal mental health - about mental health and resilience among women who were pregnant during the early lockdown phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their analysis suggests prenatal depression is an important risk factor that predicts postpartum depression and uniquely contributes to impaired mother-infant bonding.

If you like this interview, order the October Perinatal Mental Health Theme Issue.

Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts

FROM OUR ADVERTISER: Our UnitedHealthcare Community & State newsletter is your go-to source for the latest Medicaid news and UnitedHealthcare programs serving Medicaid beneficiaries.

Subscribe now by visiting our website at UHCCS.com/Newsletter.

Stay in the know by gaining access to our latest blogs, educational videos and upcoming events.