Prevalence of depression during pregnancy and postpartum periods in low-income women in developed countries

• Published in: Journal of public health Vol. 30; no. 10; pp. 2473 - 2482
• Main Authors: Corcoran, Jacqueline, Marinescu, Ioana, Vogelsang, Claudia, Kim, Jessica Cho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.10.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Developed countries; Epidemiology; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Income; Industrialized nations; Low income groups; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental depression; Postpartum; Pregnancy; Public Health; Review Article; Search process; Social determinants of health; Womens health; Depression; Postpartum depression; Prevalence; Poverty; Low-income
• ISSN: 2198-1833; 1613-2238
• DOI: 10.1007/s10389-021-01662-3

Purpose To conduct a systematic review of studies reporting prevalence rates of depression in women living in low-income in developed countries during the pregnancy and postpartum periods. Subject and methods Published and unpublished literature was searched for studies reporting prevalence of depression in women with low-income in developed countries. A subsection of studies taking place during pregnancy and postpartum periods was used for analysis. Using meta and metafor packages in R, a random-effects model to account for estimation was used. Results Sixty-four studies, involving 218,035 participants, were located through the search process. Among low-income women who were pregnant or postpartum, the prevalence of depression was 33.82%. Conclusion High rates of depression among women living in low-income conditions is of serious public health concern due to generational effects, with several possible adverse biological, psychological, and social effects on children. Women’s social determinants of health need to be addressed, as these contribute to both depression and recovery.