Seminar Series: Postpartum Depression, Pregnancy Intention, and Return to Work After Childbirth
| When |
Oct 07, 2013
from 12:00 PM to 01:00 PM |
|---|---|
| Where | 0124B Cole Student Activities Building |
| Contact Name | Tiffany Pittman |
| Contact Phone | 301-405-6403 |
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About the Talk
Postpartum depression is an important public health issue for women, their families and their employers. Previous studies have examined the impact of leave duration on postpartum depression but none have studied the association between postpartum depression and the pace of return to work. We examine the relationship between postpartum depression and return to work and the moderating effects of pregnancy intention. We utilize national data from the Listening to Mothers II Survey collected from January 20 through February 21, 2006. The woman had to be 18-45 years old, spoke English, and had given birth in 2005 to a live singleton baby in a U.S. hospital. Our analyses were limited to women who worked for an employer during pregnancy (n=882). The primary outcome was return to work at the time of the interview and the analyses utilized Cox proportional hazard models. In combination, intending the baby and being depressed suppressed return to work Nondepressed mothers with unintended pregnancies returned to work the soonest. Compared to mothers who were not depressed and with unintended pregnancy, the risk ratio of returning to work (.69) was significantly lower for mothers who were depressed and had an intended pregnancy. Mothers who were not depressed and with intended pregnancy also had a significantly lower risk ratio (.59) of returning to work than those who were not depressed and with unintended pregnancy. Primary care and occupational health providers can use these findings when counseling pregnant and postpartum women on return to work decisions.
About the Speaker
Rada Dagher is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Services Administration, School of Public Health, at the University of Maryland College Park. Prior to joining Maryland in August 2009, she was an Assistant Professor at the University of Florida. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 2007 and has an MPH from the American University of Beirut. Her research focuses on the factors that contribute to the development of maternal postpartum depression and the impact of this mental health problem on health services use and costs. She also studies the impact of work policies (e.g., policies of maternity leave after childbirth and job flexibility policies), work characteristics (e.g., job demand, job control, and supervisor and coworker support), and the impact of work-family conflict on workers’ health outcomes and health services costs. To answer these research questions, she uses quantitative statistical methods from the field of Health Services Research and Policy that pertain to cross-sectional and longitudinal data.
Research Interest
Determinants of postpartum depression; impact of postpartum depression on health services use and costs; mental health services research; family and medical leave policies and maternal postpartum health; employer policies (e.g., paid leave, flextime, work organization) and workers’ health outcomes and health services expenditures; women’s access to health insurance and health services.
