Intrapartum Synthetic Oxytocin as a Potential Mediator for Postpartum Depression

Abstract

Background: Due to social behavior modulation contribution, synthetic oxytocin (synOT) has been routinely used to augment or induce labor. Aim: The present study examined the association between intrapartum synOT administration and maternal postpartum depression (PPD) using an observational prospective study on women who delivered in our department on the 2nd day postpartum. Methods: This study was conducted in our University Emergency County Hospital between August 2019 and April 2021. We included 904 women, of whom 609 (67.36%) received synOT and 295 (32.63%) did not receive synOT during the intrapartum period. Using the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale, we showed that 26.10% of women had PPD and 73.89% of women did not have PPD. Demographic participant characteristics (i.e., age, parity, ethnicity, delivery type, and postpartum hospitalization days) were assessed. Results: Our results show that the rate of PPD was lower in women with synOT administration in comparison with women without synOT administration (p < 0.001). Younger age and shorter hospitalization days of the women with synOT were statistically significant in comparison with women without synOT administration (p < 0.001). Further, primiparous women with spontaneous delivery were positively associated with synOT administration (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our study sustained that synOT could represent a potential mediator on the PPD prevalence. These results suggest that intrapartum synOT administration may offer a potential benefit to mothers at risk of PPD.