Does General Anesthesia for Cesarean Birth Exacerbate Risk for Postpartum Depression?

Almost 1 in 7 U.S. women are affected by postpartum depression (PPD) and a significant number of deaths within the first year are attributed to suicide among these mothers. Previous studies have linked cesarean delivery with PPD due to delayed first interaction between mother and child, delayed breast-feeding, and more-severe postpartum pain. These reports suggested that general anesthesia for cesarean birth further increased PPD risk, even after adjusting for a prior history of depression.

A retrospective study of New York State data included >428,000 women undergoing primary cesarean birth; of these, >34,000 received general anesthesia and 1158 (2.7/1000) had new-onset PPD requiring hospital admission. Compared with women who had spinal or…