Effects of assisted reproductive treatments on pregnant women’s mental health

Abstract

Introduction. Childbirth is one of the most important period in women's life. It gets an even bigger emphasis, if parents have to take some kind of assisted reproductive treatment for the conception. The number of cases when assisted reproductive treatments (ART) are used, is increasing, infertility affects 15-20% of couples. Premature birth and low birth weight is more frequent among pregnant women suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD). The literature does not have a uniform view on the mental health of artificially fertilized women. Aim. The aim of our research is to submit and analyse particular mental health of women who become pregnant due to ART (ART group), and to compare ART group with spontaneously conceived group. Material and methods. 985 pregnant women were examined between 01. October 2012 and 31. August 2013 at the 1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Semmelweis University (Budapest, Hungary) with self-rated questionnaires. We measured depression using EPDS test, the level of anxiety by the STAI test. We measured the quality of life with the WHO Quality of life Bref questionnaire. We used our self-designed questionnaire to gather the socio-demographic data. Results. 100 pregnant women out of 985 were conceived with help of the ART. The mean age was 35 years, their average gestational week was 32 weeks and about half of them (47%) had multiple pregnancy. 20.8% of the ART group reached the clinical level of depression, and 9% had a high anxiety level. Conclusions. The frequency of mental disorders in the ART group does not show a big difference from the frequency of mental problems in case of spontaneously conceived group. © Borgis.