Postpartum depression among women in Nagoya indirectly exposed to the Great East Japan Earthquake

This study aimed to assess the situation of postpartum depression and maternal bonding in Nagoya, a city distant from the epicenter of the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011. Among the participants at 1 month after childbirth between March 11, 2010 and March 10, 2013 (n = 188), 152 fully responded to the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Mother–Infant Bonding Questionnaire (MIBQ). They were divided into pre-quake (n = 58), and 0–6, 6–12, 12–18, and 18–24 months after the earthquake groups (n = 20, 26, 29, and 19, respectively). The rate of mothers who scored above the cutoff point for the EPDS increased from 12.1% in the pre-quake to 35.0% in the 0–6 months group (p = 0.022). The EPDS total and anxiety subscale scores (mean ± standard error) were also significantly different between the pre-quake and 0–6 months after the earthquake groups (4.45 ± 0.50 vs. 7.95 ± 1.47, p = 0.024; 2.16 ± 0.26 vs. 3.65 ± 0.57, p = 0.021, respectively). The EPDS total and anxiety scores were the highest for the 0–6 months group, followed by the 6–12, 12–18, 18–24 months groups (p = 0.019, p = 0.022). MIBQ scores did not differ between the pre-quake and 0–6 months groups. Depressive symptoms, mainly explained by anxiety, increased after the earthquake with no changes in maternal bonding.