Depression in fathers can also cause premature births

BABIES are more likely to be born premature if either parent suffers depression around the time of pregnancy, research suggests.

While experts know that depression in the mother can lead to early labour and low birth weight babies, little is known about the effects of depression in men. Now a study published in BJOG: an International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology has found that either parent can affect prematurity.

P r of e s s or Anders Hjern said: “Depression of a partner can be considered to be a substantial source of stress for an expectant mother, and this may result in the increased risk of very preterm birth.

“Paternal depression is also known to affect sperm quality, have epigenetic effects on the DNA of the baby and can also affect placenta function. However, this risk seems to be reduced for recur- rent paternal depression, indicating that perhaps treatment for the depression reduces the risk of preterm birth.”

Experts studied more than 350,000 births from 2007 to 2012 and looked at very premature births, between 22 and 31 weeks of pregnancy, or moderately premature births, at 32 to 36 weeks. For both men and women, depression was defined as having had a prescription of anti-depressant medication, or receiving outpatient or inpatient hospital care in the 12 months before conception to the end of the second trimester of pregnancy.