Poster Session 1
Category: Perinatal Mental Health
Poster Session 1
Geum Joon Cho, MD, PhD (he/him/his)
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Korea University College of Medicine, Korea
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Korea University College of Medicine, Korea, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi, Republic of Korea
Seo-yeon KIM
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Korea, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi, Republic of Korea
Sung Hun Na
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kangwon National University, School of Medicine
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kangwon National University, School of Medicine, Kangwon-do, Republic of Korea
Ho Yeon kim, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Korea University College of Medicine
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi, Republic of Korea
Jin-Gon Bae, MD
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keimyung University, School of Medicine
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keimyung University, School of Medicine, Taegu-jikhalsi, Republic of Korea
Dong Wook Kwak, MD, PhD
assistant professor
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ajou University School of Medicine
Suwon, Kyonggi-do, Republic of Korea
Hyun-Joo Seol
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Korea University College of Medicine
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi, Republic of Korea
Min-Jeong Oh, MD, PhD
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Korea University College of Medicine
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi, Republic of Korea
Young-Han Kim, MD, PhD
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yonsei University College of Medicine
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi, Republic of Korea
This study aims to evaluate whether breastfeeding is associated with a reduced risk of postpartum mental health disorders within six months after delivery, using a nationwide cohort.
Study Design:
We conducted a retrospective cohort study utilizing data from the Korean National Health Insurance Claims Database, encompassing all women who delivered between 2017 and 2020. Postpartum mental health disorders were defined as any new diagnosis of depression, anxiety, or stress-related conditions within six months postpartum, identified using relevant ICD-10 codes. Breastfeeding status was determined based on responses to the national infant health screening survey, which is routinely administered during early childhood health checkups. Participants were categorized into three groups according to infant feeding method: exclusive breastfeeding, mixed feeding, and formula feeding.
Results:
A total of 190,992 postpartum women with available data on infant feeding methods were included in the analysis. Among them, 47,448 (24.8%) practiced exclusive breastfeeding, 91,443 (47.9%) used formula feeding, and 52,101 (27.3%) reported mixed feeding. On logistic regression analysis, the risk of postpartum mental health disorders was significantly lower in the exclusive breastfeeding groups (OR 0.640, 95% CI 0.576–0.711) and in the mixed feeding group (OR 0.799, 95% CI 0.727–0.878) compared to the formula feeding group after adjusting for potential confounding variables.
Conclusion:
This nationwide cohort study demonstrated that breastfeeding, including mixed feeding, was associated with a significantly reduced risk of postpartum mental health disorders within six months after delivery. These findings suggest that promoting breastfeeding, even when not exclusively practiced, may have beneficial effects on maternal mental health. Future efforts should focus on developing and implementing strategies to support and encourage breastfeeding among postpartum women as a potential means to improve maternal psychological outcomes.