Anxiety symptoms during late pregnancy and early parenthood following assisted reproductive technology
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Fiorella Monti
Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the relationship between assisted reproduction technology (ART) and anxiety symptoms during late pregnancy and early parenthood.
Method: Women with ART pregnancies were prospectively compared to their partners and to women with spontaneous pregnancies. The sample of 87 subjects, 48 ART (25 mothers and 23 fathers) and 39 non-ART mothers were given the ASQ-IPAT Anxiety Scale at 30–32 weeks of gestation, and at one week and three months after delivery.
Results: The main socio-demographic and obstetrical characteristics were similar between groups. ART women showed higher scores for latent anxiety than non-ART women at three months after birth and showed no difference from ART men in all assessments. Manifest anxiety scores in ART women were higher, compared to non-ART women during the third trimester of pregnancy and one week after birth and were higher in all assessments when compared to ART men. Overall level of anxiety was higher in ART women in all assessments when compared to non-ART women and higher than in ART men during the two postnatal assessments.
Conclusion: We confirm the higher level of anxiety that characterizes the pregnancy-birth process in ART pregnancies. In addition, the higher manifest anxiety present before delivery and one week post-partum can be explained by the special nature of these pregnancies. Psychological support should be offered to ART patients because anxiety is an important risk factor for maternal post-partum depression and can lead to negative effects on the neonate and on child emotional and behavioral development.
©2008 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York
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- A randomized trial of tight vs. less tight control of mild essential and gestational hypertension in pregnancy
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- Anxiety symptoms during late pregnancy and early parenthood following assisted reproductive technology
- Original article – Fetus
- Human fetal heart rate variability-characteristics of autonomic regulation in the third trimester of gestation
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- Bronchopulmonary dysplasia and early prophylactic inhaled nitric oxide in preterm infants: current concepts and future research strategies in animal models
- Side effects of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (captopril) in newborns and young infants
- Letters to the editor
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- Commentary: A case of non-cardiogenic lung edema in a woman treated with atosiban for preterm labor
- Congress Calendar
- 10.1515/JPM.2008.095
- Erratum
- Total body water in small- and appropriate - for gestational age newborns
- Announcement
- Calling European Pediatric Research Networks
- WAPM-Newsletter
- WAPM-Newsletter No 1/2008
Articles in the same Issue
- Original articles – Obstetrics
- Premature labor: a state of platelet activation?
- Soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE) and endogenous secretory RAGE (esRAGE) in amniotic fluid: modulation by infection and inflammation
- Detection of feto-maternal infection/inflammation by the soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE): results of a pilot study
- Weight gain in pregnancy according to maternal height and weight
- A randomized trial of tight vs. less tight control of mild essential and gestational hypertension in pregnancy
- Pregnancy outcome of women who developed proteinuria in the absence of hypertension after mid-gestation
- Anxiety symptoms during late pregnancy and early parenthood following assisted reproductive technology
- Original article – Fetus
- Human fetal heart rate variability-characteristics of autonomic regulation in the third trimester of gestation
- Original articles – Newborn
- Bronchopulmonary dysplasia and early prophylactic inhaled nitric oxide in preterm infants: current concepts and future research strategies in animal models
- Side effects of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (captopril) in newborns and young infants
- Letters to the editor
- Mirror syndrome due to coxackie B virus associated to maternal peripartum cardiomyopathy
- Non-cardiogenic lung edema in a woman treated with atosiban for preterm labor
- Commentary: A case of non-cardiogenic lung edema in a woman treated with atosiban for preterm labor
- Congress Calendar
- 10.1515/JPM.2008.095
- Erratum
- Total body water in small- and appropriate - for gestational age newborns
- Announcement
- Calling European Pediatric Research Networks
- WAPM-Newsletter
- WAPM-Newsletter No 1/2008
