PURPOSE: Pregnancy complications (PC) with signs of threatened preterm birth are often associated with lengthy hospital stays, which have been shown to be accompanied by anxiety, depressive symptoms, and increased stress level. It remains unclear, whether the perinatal course of mental health of these women differs from women without PC and whether there may be differences in the postpartum mother-infant bonding.

METHODS: In a naturalistic longitudinal study with two measurements (24-36th weeks of gestation and 6 weeks postpartum), we investigated depression (EPDS), anxiety (STAI-T), stress (PSS), and postpartum mother-infant bonding (PBQ) in women with threatened preterm birth (N = 75) and women without PC (N = 70). For data evaluation, we used means of frequency analysis, analysis of variance with repeated measurements, and t-tests for independent samples.

RESULTS: The patient group showed significantly higher rates of depression, anxiety, and stress during inpatient treatment in pregnancy, as well as 6 weeks postpartum compared to the control group. While depression and anxiety decreased over time in both groups, stress remained at the same level 6 weeks postpartum as in pregnancy. We found no significant differences in mother-infant bonding between the two groups at all considered PBQ scales.

CONCLUSION: It is recommended to pay attention to the psychological burden of all obstetric patients as a routine to capture a psychosomatic treatment indication. A general bonding problem in women with threatened preterm birth was not found. Nevertheless, increased maternal stress, anxiety, and depressiveness levels during pregnancy may have a negative impact on the development of the fetus.