SynthesisArchives of women's mental health2023
Association between maternity leave policies and postpartum depression: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Archives of women's mental health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The impact of paid family leave on parent and infant health outcomes: a systematic review of quasi-experimental research.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- Associations Between Employment and Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Reviews.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2026Pooled it
- Anxiety symptoms following conception through assisted reproductive technology: a systematic review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- enDigital Postpartum Support for Early Risk Identification Among Postpartum Women: Formative Randomized Evaluation and Exploratory Predictive Modeling Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Trial
- Optimizing the Postpartum Period to Support Lifelong Health for Women with Obesity.Current obesity reports · 2026Review
- Postpartum-specific anxiety among working mothers in relation to maternity leave perceptions: a cross-sectional study from Turkey.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Patterns and trends of eating disorders among women of childbearing age: a comprehensive analysis from 1990 to 2021 with future predictions.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2026Article
- Code Blue for Maternal Rights: The Scientific Impact of Abbreviated Maternity Leave in Healthcare.Indian journal of community medicine : official publication of Indian Association of Preventive & Social Medicine · 2026Article
- Fertility, family planning, pregnancy and motherhood among women doctors working in the EU and UK: a scoping review.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Addressing the Global Mental Health Crisis: How a Human Rights Approach Can Help End the Search for Pharmaceutical Magic Bullets.Health and human rights · 2025Article
- Intervention strategies to prevent mental health problems and improve resilience in employed parents from conception until the child is 5 years of age: a scoping review.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Extending the concept of "obstetric violence" to post-partum experiences: cautions regarding the "first ever" pill for post-partum depression.Sexual and reproductive health matters · 2024Article
- Non-pharmacological Radical Methods for Treating Postpartum Depression Around the Globe: A Narrative Review.Cureus · 2024Review
- Unleashing the potential of metaphors: a categorization system for exploring return to work after maternity.Archives of women's mental health · 2024Article
- Article
- Postpartum depression and risk factors among working women one year after delivery in Beijing, China: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Escaping the midway trap: A mixed method study highlighting roadblocks and coping mechanisms of female researchers in Cameroon.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeWorking mothers are at greater risk for postpartum depression. Maternity leave characteristics, including length, wage replacement and employment protection, could have relevant implications for mothers' mental health. We propose to explore whether there is an association between maternity leave characteristics and postpartum depression.
methodsWe conducted a systematic review searching for randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental, cohort or cross-sectional studies on five databases using search terms including maternity and parental leave and depression, as well as references in relevant articles. We identified 500 articles and included 23 of those. We used the EPHPP Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies to assess the quality of the studies.
resultsPaid and longer maternity leaves tend to be associated with a reduction of postpartum depression symptoms in high-income countries. No studies explored the association between employment protection and postpartum depression. The quality of studies ranged from strong to weak, mostly influenced by study design.
conclusionMore restrictive maternity leave policies tend to be associated with higher rates of postpartum depression, although more research needs to be conducted in the Global South.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.