Maternal post-natal depressive symptoms at 2 months: Effects of French antenatal preventive measures in the E.L.F.E. cohort.

Abstract Background Given the high incidence of perinatal maternal depression, implementation of preventive actions is crucial. In France, two prenatal preventive measures are available to the general population: early prenatal interview (EPI) and antenatal classes (ANC). Objective To explore the independent associations between EPI and / or ANC and maternal depressive symptoms at 2 months postpartum. Method We used data from the Etude Longitudinale Francaise depuis l'Enfance (ELFE), a French national representative cohort of children and their parents, followed-up from birth to early adulthood. Data concerning characteristics were collected from the mothers during the maternity stay and between 6/8 weeks’ post-partum. The level of depressive symptoms was scored by the French version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) between 6/8 weeks’ post-partum. We considered EPDS score ≥10 indicative of postnatal psychological distress (PPD) and EPDS ≥12 for postnatal depressive symptoms (PNDS). After data imputation, multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed. Results Among the 16,411 mothers included in our sample, 26% benefited both from EPI and ANC, 31.1 % of ANC, 7.7% of an EPI and 35% of neither; 20,1% presented PPD and 12,1% PNDS. The likelihood of presenting PPD was significantly higher in mothers who had neither had EPI nor ANC (OR = 1.15 (95% CI : 1.01–1.30). There was no association between receiving or not an EPI and/or ANC and presenting PNDS. Conclusions Antenatal preventive measures may be helpful to prevent PPD at 2 months’ post- partum, while PNDS do not seem to be influenced by these actions.