A Health Podyssey

Listen to Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interview Sara Kornfield, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, on the relationship between COVID-19, postpartum depression, and mother-infant bonding.

Show Notes

Postpartum depression is a common condition among people who give birth. Within four weeks of childbirth, 13% of women experience postpartum depression with as many as 19% of women affected three months postpartum.

Mothers who experienced postpartum depression are more likely to experience impaired mother-infant bonding, which has been linked to increased risk for infant maltreatment and socio-emotional behavior and cognitive problems.

Now, acute stress during pregnancy can increase the risk of postpartum depression. The current global COVID-19 pandemic represents a stressor that may have significant repercussions for postpartum depression risk and mother-child relationship development.

Sara Kornfield, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, joins Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil on A Health Podyssey to discuss the relationship between COVID-19, postpartum depression, and mother-infant bonding.

Kornfield and coauthors recently published a paper in the October 2021 issue of Health Affairs - which is dedicated to the topic of perinatal mental health - about mental health and resilience among women who were pregnant during the early lockdown phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their analysis suggests prenatal depression is an important risk factor that predicts postpartum depression and uniquely contributes to impaired mother-infant bonding.  

If you like this interview, order the October Perinatal Mental Health Theme Issue.

Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts

What is A Health Podyssey?

Each week, Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil brings you in-depth conversations with leading researchers and influencers shaping the big ideas in health policy and the health care industry.

A Health Podyssey goes beyond the pages of the health policy journal Health Affairs to tell stories behind the research and share policy implications. Learn how academics and economists frame their research questions and journey to the intersection of health, health care, and policy. Health policy nerds rejoice! This podcast is for you.