Partner military deployment and war conditions increase perinatal depression and decrease postpartum mother-infant bonding.

Abstract

The pregnancy and postpartum period represents a time of potentially heightened psychological vulnerability with implications for the offspring. Knowledge of the mental health of perinatal women exposed to armed conflict when their partner is in military deployment is scarce. This matched-control, survey-based study included a sample of 429 women recruited during the first months of the Israel-Hamas War who were pregnant or within six months postpartum. Women reporting partner in military deployment (n=250) were matched on background factors to women whose partner was no longer deployed (n=179). We found that nearly 44% of pregnant women with partner deployed endorsed depression symptoms at a clinical level. This group was more than two times as likely to endorse depression symptoms than matched controls. Postpartum women with partner deployed had significantly lower levels of mother-infant bonding than the matched group of partners not deployed. Mediation models revealed that social support mediated the relationship between study group and these maternal outcomes. Our findings suggest that war-exposed spouses of partners who are deployed are at increased risk for psychiatric morbidity and problems with attachment to the infant. Attention to optimizing social support in perinatal population is warranted during times of war and other large-scale traumas.