Chinese research has found that mothers who have an epidural during childbirth may be less likely to suffer from postnatal depression.
The research showed that women who had an epidural during labour had a 14% rate of depression six weeks after birth. However, this rose to 35% for mothers who decided to refrain from using the pain relief.
They also found that breastfeeding was more common in the women who opted for the epidural (70%) than those who didn’t (50%).
Dr Katherine Wisner, a perinatal psychiatrist at Northwestern University in the US wrote a report on the research. She said:
“Pain control gets the mother off to a good beginning rather than starting off defeated and exhausted.
“Whether it’s vaginal or Caesarean section delivery, pain control [during and after the birth] is an issue for all new mothers.
“There is no way to have a delivery without pain. The objective here is to avoid severe pain.
“Controlling that delivery pain so a woman can comfortably develop as a mother is something that makes a lot of sense.”
Dr Wisner said the research was very important as “It’s a huge omission that there has been almost nothing in past research about pain during labour and delivery and postpartum depression.
“There is a well-known relationship between acute and chronic pain and depression.”
