A study was recently conducted by Prof. Anders Hjem of the ‘Centre for Health Equity Studies’, Sweden to study depression of fathers and premature births, as depression in expectant mothers has already been linked to premature birth and low baby weight risk.
Essentially, premature births are those, which take place before 32 weeks (very premature) and 36 weeks (moderately premature). These in turn are linked to infant mortality.
Even for survivors, the probability of other health risks increases for the survivors of premature birth. In this context, the research was focused on data from over 350 thousand births in Sweden over a five year period, and premature births and depression in either/and/or spouces was studied and documented.
According to the results, 30-40% depressed mothers gave birth to moderately premature babies, while 38% premature births were attributed to fathers who got depression after the baby was concieved.
