Partner military deployment during wartime is associated with maternal depression and impaired maternal-infant attachment: a matched-control study from the Israel-Hamas war.

PURPOSE: The pregnancy and postpartum periods represent a time of heightened psychological vulnerability with implications for the offspring. Knowledge of the mental health of perinatal women exposed to armed conflict when their partner is in military deployment is scarce.

METHODS

This matched-control, survey-based study included a sample of 429 women recruited during the first months of the Israel-Hamas War who were pregnant or within six months postpartum. Women who had a partner in military deployment were matched primarily on demographics, prior mental health, and trauma exposure to women whose partner was no longer deployed.

RESULTS

We found that nearly 44% of pregnant women with a partner deployed endorsed probable depression. This group was more than twice as likely to endorse probable depression than matched pregnant controls. Likewise, postpartum women with a partner deployed reported significantly more maternal-infant attachment problems than the matched postpartum group of partners not deployed. Importantly, analysis showed that partner's active deployment was related to maternal depression and attachment problems via reduced perceived social support.

CONCLUSIONS

Partner military deployment during conditions of war can serve as a major psychological stressor for pregnant and postpartum women. It can heighten psychiatric morbidity and interfere with attachment to the infant in part by diminished social support. Implementation of community-based services for the peripartum population is crucial during times of war and other large-scale traumas.