Pregnancy after postpartum depression - could postpartum depression be a growing experience?

Numerous studies have examined screening for PPD, predictors of PPD, and the negative ramifications of PPD. However there is little research on the positive outcomes of PPD, such as personal growth, or women’s experience of PPD in subsequent postpartum periods and the factors that buffer women from PPD recurring. Methods: A prospective case-control study screened primiparous women who were diagnosed with PPD (PPD group, n=52), and their matched controls (not-PPD group, n=64), for maternal depression, marital satisfaction, coping, and stress-related growth, across three time-points: pregnancy, the initial postpartum period, and the postpartum period following the subsequent pregnancy. Repeated measures ANOVA and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to examine differences between groups and predictors of growth. Results: PPD group reported more depressive symptoms and less marital satisfaction during pregnancy and the initial postpartum period, however there was no significant difference between the groups in the subsequent postpartum period. The PPD group showed a significant reduction in depressive scores in the subsequent postpartum period – and were less than the scores at pregnancy and the initial postpartum period. The PPD group scored higher than women in the not-PPD group on measures of growth in the subsequent postpartum period. The main predictors of growth were marital satisfaction during pregnancy, maternal depression in the postpartum periods, and coping strategies employed during pregnancy and the initial postpartum period. Conclusions: Positive outcomes can occur from PPD. Women who experienced more postpartum depression reported more growth. Marital satisfaction and coping styles can influence growth following PPD.