Systematic review of Infant Gender with Postpartum Depression

Background and Aim: Postpartum depression (PPD) is one of the psychological disorders during pregnancy and after it. PPD compromises mother's health and affects social relationship, and has negative effect on infant development. According to studies women who have boy babies are more likely to have PPD than others. The purpose of this paper was to conduct a systematic review of studies on the relationship between infant gender and postpartum depression. Methods: In this systematic review, the information from the databases ISI, Papmd, Gvglaskvlar, Scopus and Mgayran with keywords "Infant gender" and "postpartum depression" from 2005- 2018 were searched and finally 16 articles in this field were reviewed. Results: PPD is a prevalent family and social problem. Its prevalence is 10 to 15%, but there is evidence that Asian women are at greater risk. Symptoms of PPD include irritability, lack of enjoyment of life, loss of confidence, sadness, and psychosis. This situation affects maternal and infant attachment and other family relationships and is even a threat to maternal and infant health. There is a 79% higher risk of depression among mothers whose children are boys than those who have girls. Many studies have found that alterations in estrogen, progesterone, and beta-endorphins are effective in the pathology of PPD. And since the malefetus secretes androgen and the female fetus estrogen, the issue of the effect of fetal sex on PPD is raised through hormonal mechanisms. Some researchers have suggested that this is due to loss of estrogen parity in the fifth day after delivery. On the other hand, baby gender preference is important in some cultures and has been found to modify risk for antenatal and postnatal depression Infant gender and postpartum complications can help identify these women to support them. ConclusionPostpartum depression is a serious preventable problem with various effects. Midwives being the first carers of mothers and newborns, can play a significant role in diagnosing and improving this disease. It seems that educating families in order to reduce their sensitivity to neonatal gender and educating their spouse to support women psychologically can be very effective in promoting maternal mental health.