Use of contraception among US women reporting postpartum depressive symptoms, pregnancy risk assessment monitoring system 2009-2011.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to determine the prevalence of postpartum contraceptive use among women with postpartum depressive symptoms (PDS) and examine the association between PDS and contraceptive method.

STUDY DESIGN

We evaluated data from 16,357 postpartum women participating in the 2009-2011 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System. PDS was defined as an additive score of ≥10 for three questions on depression, hopelessness, and feeling physically slowed. Contraceptive use was categorized as permanent, long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), user-dependent hormonal, and user-dependent non-hormonal. Logistic regression models compared postpartum contraceptive use and method by PDS status.

RESULTS

In total, 12.3% of women with a recent live birth reported PDS. Large percentages of women with (69.4%) and without (76.1%) PDS, used user-dependent or no contraceptive method. There were no associations between PDS and use of any postpartum contraception (adjusted Prevalence Ratio (aPR)=1.00, 95% CI 0.98-1.03) or permanent contraception (aPR=1.05, 95% CI 0.88-1.27). LARC use was elevated, but not significantly, among women with PDS compared to those without (aPR=1.16, 95% CI: 1.00-1.34).

CONCLUSIONS

Large percentages of women with and without PDS used user-dependent or no contraception. Since depression may be associated with misuse of user-dependent methods, counseling women about how to use methods more effectively, as well as the effectiveness of non-user dependent methods, may be beneficial.

IMPLICATIONS

A large percentage of women with PDS are either not using contraception or using less effective user-dependent methods. Since depression may be associated with misuse of user-dependent contraceptive methods, counseling women about how to use methods more effectively, as well as non-user dependent options, such as LARC, may be beneficial.