Sara Kornfield on Postpartum Depression, Mental Health and Mother-Infant Bonding During COVID-19

<p><a href="https://www.pubservice.com/backissue/subbi.aspx?CO=PJ&amp;PC=HR&amp;BI=HRI&amp;utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=october2021issue">Order the October Perinatal Mental Health Theme Issue</a>.</p><br><p>Postpartum depression is a common condition among people who give birth. Within four weeks of childbirth, 13% of women experience postpartum depression with as many as 19% of women affected three months postpartum.</p><p>Mothers who experienced postpartum depression are more likely to experience impaired mother-infant bonding, which has been linked to increased risk for infant maltreatment and socio-emotional behavior and cognitive problems.</p><p>Now, acute stress during pregnancy can increase the risk of postpartum depression. The current global COVID-19 pandemic represents a stressor that may have significant repercussions for postpartum depression risk and mother-child relationship development. </p><p>Sara Kornfield, assistant professor of psychiatry at the <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/">University of Pennsylvania</a>, joins <em>Health Affairs</em> Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil on <em>A Health Podyssey </em>to discuss the relationship between COVID-19, postpartum depression, and mother-infant bonding.</p><p>Kornfield and coauthors recently published a paper in the October 2021 issue of <em>Health Affairs - </em>which is <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/maternal-health-and-perinatal-mental-health">dedicated to the topic of perinatal mental health</a> -<em> </em>about mental health and resilience among women who were pregnant during the early lockdown phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their analysis suggests <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.00803">prenatal depression is an important risk factor</a> that predicts postpartum depression and uniquely contributes to impaired mother-infant bonding.<em> </em> </p><p>If you like this interview, <a href="https://www.pubservice.com/backissue/subbi.aspx?CO=PJ&amp;PC=HR&amp;BI=HRI&amp;utm_mediu