Depressive Symptoms Postpartum: A Study On Women With Nausea/Vomiting During Pregnancy

Several studies have found that persistent nausea and vomiting during pregnancy (NVP) was associated with unplanned and unwanted pregnancy and increased depressive and anxious symptoms after childbirth. Some authors stated that persistent NVP could represent somatic symptoms of intrapsychic difficulty in acquiring the maternal role. The present research aimed to assess the associations between NVP during pregnancy and presence of post-partum depressive and anxious symptoms, when children aged between 3 and 6 months. N=50 mothers of children aged between 3 and 6 months were recruited. Self-report questionnaires to assess postpartum depression and anxiety were administered. Furthermore, a sociodemographic questionnaire assessing also pregnancy variables (such as the presence of nausea and vomiting in the three trimesters of pregnancy) was administered. in line with literature, results show an association between the persistence of vomiting during pregnancy and postpartum depressive and anxious symptoms. However, no associations between the persistence of nausea and postpartum psychopathological symptoms were found. We assume that vomiting is a psychosomatic manifestation of intrapsychic malaise, which can lead to subsequent anxious/depressive symptoms. Indeed, these results allow us to evaluate possible risk factors and to activate prevention programs for postpartum depression during pregnancy