The most interesting finding from this study was the association of antenatal depression and preterm birth. Previous studies reported multiple factors/mechanisms linking maternal depression with adverse birth outcome especially premature birth (Dunkel Schetter & Tanner, 2012). The factors responsible for maternal depression were poverty, adverse life events, chronic stress due to homelessness, racial disparity, and lack of prenatal care (Dunkel Schetter & Tanner, 2012). According to the studies included in this review, racial disparity was found to be an important stressor or risk factor for antenatal depression. And, these results were consistent with a preterm prediction study conducted in the past, which indicated that the racial disparity
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First, our scope was narrowed down to publications published only in English and were conducted in the U.S. This could potentially impact our ability to infer our findings to other non-English speaking countries. Second, the terms “preterm birth” and “premature rupture of membrane” were used interchangeably in the literature, created some confusion while comparison of studies. Third, effects of other factors such as neighborhood disadvantage, domestic violence, and previous traumatic experiences on preterm birth still need to be studied. We could not find any study describing these factors individually, which would match our inclusion criteria.
Despite the limitations, our findings have important implications for our understanding of in psychosocial determinants of preterm birth. To our knowledge, the current review is the first one to identify all psychosocial factors collectively.
There is remarkably convergence of all the suggested potential factors to cause antenatal depression, which then lead to adverse birth outcomes especially preterm birth. Therefore, this review highlights the need of controlling risk factors of antenatal depression, which would subsequently help reducing the premature birth rates.
Conclusion for
First, our scope was narrowed down to publications published only in English and were conducted in the U.S. This could potentially impact our ability to infer our findings to other non-English speaking countries. Second, the terms “preterm birth” and “premature rupture of membrane” were used interchangeably in the literature, created some confusion while comparison of studies. Third, effects of other factors such as neighborhood disadvantage, domestic violence, and previous traumatic experiences on preterm birth still need to be studied. We could not find any study describing these factors individually, which would match our inclusion criteria.
Despite the limitations, our findings have important implications for our understanding of in psychosocial determinants of preterm birth. To our knowledge, the current review is the first one to identify all psychosocial factors collectively.
There is remarkably convergence of all the suggested potential factors to cause antenatal depression, which then lead to adverse birth outcomes especially preterm birth. Therefore, this review highlights the need of controlling risk factors of antenatal depression, which would subsequently help reducing the premature birth rates.
Conclusion for