ORIGINAL ARTICLE Impact of maternal depression on perinatal outcomes in hospitalized women—a prospective study Narkis Hermon 1 & Tamar Wainstock 2 & Eyal Sheiner 3 & Agneta Golan 4 & Asnat Walfisch 3 Received: 29 January 2018 /Accepted: 22 June 2018 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract Scarce data exists regarding the prevalence of antenatal depression in hospitalized pregnant women, and its effect on perinatal outcome. We aimed to estimate the risk of maternal depression among women hospitalized in a high-risk pregnancy department, and to evaluate its potential association with adverse perinatal outcome. A depression screening self-questionnaire-based pro- spective study was performed, in which hospitalized pregnant women who screened positive for depression were compared to those who screened negative. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used for antenatal depression screening. Pregnancy course and perinatal outcome were compared between the groups. A multivariate logistic regression model was constructed to control for clinically relevant confounders. During the study period, 279 women met the inclusion criteria. Among them, 28.3% (n = 79) screened positive for depression (≥ 10 points on the EPDS). In the univariate analysis, a signifi- cantly higher incidence of preterm delivery (< 37 weeks), low birthweight (< 2500 g), low Apgar scores (at 1 and 5 min), and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admissions were noted among the screen positive group. In the multivariate regression model, controlled for maternal age, ethnicity, gestational diabetes mellitus, preeclampsia, past preterm delivery, and gestational age upon admission, maternal antenatal depression during hospitalization was noted as an independent risk factor for preterm delivery (adjusted OR 3.32, 95%CI 1.16–9.52, p = 0.026). Maternal antenatal depression during hospitalization is very common and appears to play a significant and independent role in the prediction of preterm delivery. Keywords Antenatal depression . High-risk pregnancy . Screening . EPDS Introduction Pregnancy and the postpartum period are vulnerable times for onset or relapse of mental illness, with depression and anxiety being the most common psychiatric disorders during these periods (Biaggi et al. 2016; Pavlov et al. 2014). The risk of major depression peaks during childbearing years, and is twice as high in women than in men (Walfisch 2012; Yedid Sion et al. 2016), with an estimated prevalence ranging from 7 to 20% (Alder et al. 2011; Grigoriadis et al. 2013) while the rate of depression among medically ill hospitalized patients, as measured using a self-questionnaire, might be as high as 32% (Sharma et al. 2002). Specifically, regarding pregnant women hospitalized in a high-risk pregnancy unit, studies have found a wide range of risk for depression, varying from 27 to 44% (Brandon et al. 2008; Byatt et al. 2014). Over 40% of women who were positively screened for depression were found to have a major depressive disorder (Brandon et al. 2008). The extent to which depressive symptoms effect pregnancy complications is debatable, although accumulating data over the past few decades suggest a profound negative impact (Yedid Sion et al. 2016). Numerous studies have found a cor- relation between diagnosed antenatal depression and a rise in a variety of complications throughout pregnancy. Antenatal de- pression was linked to higher miscarriage rate, preterm deliver- ies, preeclampsia, low birthweights excessive use of analgesics * Narkis Hermon nicky.narkis@gmail.com 1 Joyce and Irving Goldman Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel 2 The Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel 3 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soroka University Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel 4 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Soroka University Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel Archives of Women's Mental Health https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-018-0883-5