Two weeks of parental leave significantly reduces the risk of postpartum depression in the father … But slightly increases the risk of postpartum depression in the mother, concludes a French study published in The Lancet. The correlation is much more complicated than it seems, since risk factors for postpartum depression are many, from socioeconomic status to daily household stress.
Postpartum depression can affect both father and mother
“The topic of paternal health during pregnancy or after childbirth is still relatively little known and is the subject of several studies,” epidemiologist Maria Melchior, research director at Inserm, who led the work, told Science et Avenir. Fathers, like mothers, can indeed have postpartum depression, which is then rather described as “postpartum”. The symptoms in both are the same and similar to depression outside of any birth: loss of interest in pleasures, sadness, loss of sleep and appetite, isolation, etc. In fact, in the study, “two months after birth, in 5% of fathers and 15% of mothers had symptoms consistent with postpartum depression. -partum”, although there was no official diagnosis, Maria Melchior clarifies.
Because parental leave gives fathers the opportunity to support their partner in housework and childcare, and increases opportunities for father-child communication, the researchers expect it to be more of a protective factor against the onset of postpartum depression in both mothers and mothers. at fathers. But to their surprise, this is not quite what they find among the almost 11,000 fathers and 13,000 mothers of the French ELFE cohort.
Two weeks of parental leave significantly reduces the risk of postpartum depression in the father … But slightly increases the risk of postpartum depression in the mother, concludes a French study published in The Lancet. The correlation is much more complicated than it seems, since risk factors for postpartum depression are many, from socioeconomic status to daily chores.
Postpartum depression can affect both father and mother
“The topic of paternal health during pregnancy or after childbirth is still relatively little known and is the subject of several studies,” epidemiologist Maria Melchior, research director at Inserm, who led the work, told Science et Avenir. Fathers, like mothers, can indeed have postpartum depression, which is then rather described as “postpartum”. The symptoms in both are the same and similar to depression outside of any birth: loss of interest in pleasures, sadness, loss of sleep and appetite, isolation, etc. In fact, in the study, “two months after birth, in 5% of fathers and 15% of mothers had symptoms consistent with postpartum depression. -partum”, although there was no official diagnosis, Maria Melchior clarifies.
Because parental leave gives fathers the opportunity to support their partner in housework and childcare, and increases opportunities for father-child communication, the researchers expect it to be more of a protective factor against the onset of postpartum depression in both mothers and mothers. at fathers. But, to their surprise, this is not quite what they find among the nearly 11,000 fathers and 13,000 mothers of the French ELFE cohort.
ELF COHORT. The Longitudinal Study from Childhood (ELFE) is the largest French study of child development. It tracks 18,000 children born in 2011 through tests and questionnaires completed each year by the child or their parents.
Positive effect on fathers, slight negative effect on mothers
Admittedly, fathers who took two weeks of parental leave had a 25% lower risk of reporting symptoms of postpartum depression. A positive effect that persists even for fathers who are about to go on parental leave but have not yet taken it. But among mothers, the story is different. Although the effect initially seemed moderately protective, the researchers realize that after adjusting their calculations for other factors notorious for maternal postpartum depression, the result was the opposite. “Taking into account, for example, socioeconomic factors or maternal health status at baseline, we rather found a small increase in the risk of postpartum depression, albeit a significant one,” says Maria Melchior. those who suffered before pregnancy are indeed at greater risk of postpartum depression.
If the negative impact of parental leave on the mental health of mothers remains small compared to the positive impact it has on fathers, the result is questionable. For Maria Melchior, this surprising result can be explained by two hypotheses. “Perhaps factors such as the mother’s previous depression pushed fathers to take this paternity leave.” The causality would then be reversed, since parental leave would not have harmed the mothers’ mental health, but said mental health would have pushed the fathers to go on vacation. “The second hypothesis could be that a 15-day vacation is not long enough,” adds Maria Melchior. According to the researchers, a large gap between the duration of parental leave and maternity leave can lead to an unequal distribution of time spent on childcare. Moreover, the father’s time after parental leave is not organized in such a way as to optimize the balance between professional and family time.
Assess the impact of the new 28-day parental leave
“However, this is not about making fathers feel guilty if they do not take this parental leave, because not everyone has this opportunity,” Maria Melchior supports. Status that makes stopping too expensive (e.g. self-guided), disapproval of the hierarchy, impossibility of replacement, barriers to obtaining parental leave are not uncommon in the professional environment of men. Difficulties also often cause stress at work, a risk factor for postpartum depression. It is clear that many fathers who do not take parental leave due to their professional status are also more likely to suffer from postpartum depression, although this leave reduces the risk.
It remains to be seen if the new parental leave, increased from 11 to 28 days in July 2021, will have a more positive impact on postpartum depression. “We plan to test this in Constance’s cohort, which includes 200,000 adults, a subset of whom had children at the time of follow-up,” Maria Melchior foresees. An essential issue in order to be able to improve social policy in France, and although data from the 1000 Premiers Jours report insist on the importance of the presence of a father in early childhood. “Children who have a father present are less at risk of anxiety or depression. Thus, participation in family life during these key periods brings real benefits both to the dynamics of the family and to the men themselves,” concludes Maria Melchior.