ArticleJournal of affective disorders2019
Perinatal depression among mothers in a South African birth cohort study: Trajectories from pregnancy to 18 months postpartum.
Article in Journal of affective disorders, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 66 citations in OpenAlex.
- The epidemiology of maternal mental health in Africa: a systematic review.Archives of women's mental health · 2025Pooled it
- Postnatal Depression Beyond 12 Months: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of mental health nursing · 2025Pooled it
- The association between sexual violence and mental disorders among women victim-survivors in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- Exploring Heterogeneity in perinatal depression: a comprehensive review.BMC psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Effect of Short, Animated Video Storytelling on Maternal Knowledge and Satisfaction in the Perinatal Period in South Africa: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Trial
- Interpersonal therapy versus antidepressant medication for treatment of postpartum depression and anxiety among women with HIV in Zambia: a randomized feasibility trial.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2022Trial
- Assessing longitudinal patterns of depressive symptoms and the influence of symptom trajectories on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis adherence among adolescent girls in the HPTN 082 randomized controlled trial.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2021Trial
- Predictors of Preschool Neurodevelopmental Outcomes and Trajectories in a South African Birth Cohort.Research square · 2026Article
- Trajectories of perinatal depressive symptoms in women with overweight and obesity.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- Early postpartum psychosocial profiles predict parenting maladjustment at 1 year.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- "Motherhood is a work in progress": a qualitative longitudinal study of maternal subjectivity and well-being of women in the Bukhali trial in Soweto, South Africa.Frontiers in global women's health · 2026Article
- Longitudinally investigating patterns of maternal psychological distress in a South African birth cohort.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The nexus of the risk of depression and residential mobility for urban poor mothers: New longitudinal evidence from Nairobi.SSM. Mental health · 2025Article
- Joint Developmental Trajectories of Perinatal Depression and Anxiety and Their Predictors: A Longitudinal Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Noncoding RNAs and their influence on maternal mental health: insights into perinatal depression: a review.Molecular biology reports · 2025Review
- Examining the associations between social support and postpartum depression symptoms among adolescent mothers in Nairobi, Kenya.Reproductive health · 2025Article
- Prevalence and influencing factors of perinatal depression across different stages of pregnancy and postpartum: a cross-sectional study in China.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Antenatal care quality and detection of risk among pregnant women: An observational study in Ethiopia, India, Kenya, and South Africa.PLoS medicine · 2024Observational
- Maternal perinatal depression and child brain structure at 2-3 years in a South African birth cohort study.Translational psychiatry · 2023Article
- Influence of Maternal Childhood Trauma on Perinatal Depression, Observed Mother-Infant Interactions, and Child Growth.Maternal and child health journal · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPerinatal depression affects 21-50% of women in South Africa and poses significant health risks to mothers and children. Trajectories of depressive symptoms change over time and have not been well characterized during the perinatal period in low and middle-income countries.
methodsData from women enrolled in a population-based birth cohort study in Paarl, South Africa with at least 3 depression measures from pregnancy through 18 months postpartum (N = 831) were analyzed. Depressive symptoms were measured continuously using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Group-based trajectory models were used to estimate trajectories of depressive symptoms during the perinatal period and multinomial multivariable models to identify predictors of trajectory group membership.
resultsFive distinct trajectory patterns of depressive symptoms were identified: moderate levels of depressive symptoms during pregnancy but minimal postpartum (3.5%), minimal levels during pregnancy and increasing postpartum (3.7%), unstable levels peaking at 12 months postpartum (6.6%), mild levels with slight decrease postpartum (82.9%), and severe levels during pregnancy and postpartum (3.1%). Membership in the chronic severe symptom group was associated with stressful life events, sexual intimate partner violence and tobacco use. LIMITATIONS: Modeling limitations prevented determining how changes in psychosocial predictors over time may influence depressive symptom trajectories.
conclusionsMild to severe depressive symptoms during pregnancy/postpartum were common among this South African cohort. Interventions to treat women with severe chronic depressive symptoms with co-occurring psychosocial issues are urgently needed.
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