Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder in pregnant women with prior pregnancy complications

Abstract

Objective: To assess the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in pregnant women with prior pregnancy complications.

Methods: Seventy-six pregnant women at a maternal-fetal medicine referral clinic were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire. Fifty-six women had a prior pregnancy complication (study group), and the remaining 20 had none (comparison group). Subjects were assessed with a questionnaire consisting of a modified patient-rated version of the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS). The modified CAPS was used to approximate the prevalence of full or partial PTSD related to a prior pregnancy complication using two scoring rules, the rule-of-3 (original rule) and rule-of-4 (more stringent rule).

Results: The prevalence of full PTSD among women with prior pregnancy complications was 12.5% and 8.9% based on the rule-of-3 and rule-of-4, respectively. For partial PTSD, the prevalence was 28.6% based on the rule-of-3 versus 17.9% based on the rule-of-4. The most common type of complication was miscarriage, accounting for 73.5% of the reported complications. None of the women in the comparison group met criteria for full or partial PTSD.

Conclusions: The prevalence of PTSD in pregnant women with a prior pregnancy-related complication is considerable. These findings provide additional evidence that pregnancy complications can be experienced as traumatic, and as such lead to partial or full PTSD symptoms.

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.