Association between maternal depression and neonatal outcomes: Evidence from a survey of nationally representative longitudinal studies

Background and aims: Maternal depression before and after delivery has dramatically increased in China. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the association between antepartum and postpartum depression and neonatal outcomes. Design: A population-based retrospective cohort study. Setting: China. Participants: Data were obtained from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). Different mother-child/infant samples were included in this study. Mother in CFPS2012 and CFPS2016 were linked with 1–2-year-old children in CFPS2014 and CFPS2018, respectively. Besides, and mothers in CFPS2012, CFPS2016, and CFPS2018 were linked with 0–1-year-old infants in CFPS2012, CFPS2016, and CFPS2018, respectively. Methods: Maternal depression was measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. The neonatal outcomes included duration of gestational days, preterm birth, birth weight, birth weight z-score, weight, weight z-score, illness in the past month, and hospitalization in the past year. Propensity score matching was used to balance maternal, family, and infant/child characteristics between the maternal depression and non-maternal depression groups. Results: Multivariable regression analysis of matched samples estimated that antepartum depression was associated with a shorter duration of gestation by 3.99 days (95% confidence interval [CI] = −7.21, −0.78). The association between antepartum depression and preterm birth, birth weight and birth weight z-score were not statistically significant. Postpartum depression was associated with more episodes of illness in the last month by 0.23 times (95% CI = 0.11, 0.36) and a higher odd of hospitalization in the previous year (OR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.15, 2.20). The association between postpartum depression and weight or the weight z-score was not significant. Conclusion: Maternal depression appears to be associated with worse neonatal outcomes.