Posttraumatic stress disorder after pregnancy loss
Abstract
This prospective longitudinal study investigated the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in response to pregnancy loss. About 1,370 women were recruited in the early stages of pregnancy and 113 of them had a subsequent pregnancy loss. One and four months after pregnancy loss, they were assessed for PTSD with the Posttraumatic Symptom Scale. Depression was also assessed. The majority had an early loss, i.e., within 20 weeks. At one month, the prevalence of PTSD was 25%, and the symptom-severity was similar to other traumatized populations. Women with PTSD had increased risk of depression: 34% of PTSD cases and 5% of non-cases reported depression. At four months, 7% met the criteria for PTSD, of which half were chronic. In contrast, rates for depression had not declined. The results indicate that pregnancy loss is potentially traumatic, putting women at risk of developing PTSD. In most cases, the disorder is immediate and persists for several months.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
There is evidence to suggest that a proportion of women will experience severe psychologic sequelae after miscarriage, meeting diagnostic thresholds for anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
“there is evidence to suggest that a proportion of women will experience severe psychologic sequelae in the aftermath of miscarriage, such that they meet diagnostic thresholds for recognized disorders that include anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).3,4”
From Posttraumatic stress, anxiety and depression following miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy: a multicenter, prospective, cohort study (2020) · cites this paper as [4]
Research to date has been variable in quality, with some studies using a self-selected population and others not specifying the derivation of participants.
“Research to date has been variable in quality, with some studies using a self-selected population 4,7 and others not specifying the derivation of participants.8e10”
From Posttraumatic stress, anxiety and depression following miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy: a multicenter, prospective, cohort study (2020) · cites this paper as [4]
The incidence of posttraumatic stress symptoms and the psychologic response specifically to ectopic pregnancies have not been investigated.
“Notably, there are very little data on ectopic pregnancies, which perhaps reflects the clinical focus on treating a potentially critical acute condition or their relative rarity in comparison to miscarriage.12 Furthermore, only small studies or those also including stillbirth have assessed for posttraumatic stress.4”
From Posttraumatic stress, anxiety and depression following miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy: a multicenter, prospective, cohort study (2020) · cites this paper as [4]
Results were consistent with previous research identifying gestational age as a risk factor for common mental health disorders.
“Results were found to be consistent with previous research, identifying gestational age as a risk factor for common mental health disorders (Janssen et al., 1996; Engelhard et al., 2001).”
From The mental health impact of perinatal loss: A systematic review and meta-analysis (2022) · cites this paper as Engelhard et al., 2001
The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet
References 29 · Cited by 245
- Authors
- Engelhard, I. M., van den Hout, M. A., & Arntz, A.
- Affiliations
- Maastricht University (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Engelhard, Iris M.
- Venue
- General Hospital Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2001-03
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 62-66
- ISSN
- 0163-8343 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2019052641
- Cited by
- 245
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 12.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- General Hospital Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
- Keywords
- post-traumatic stress disorder, miscarriage, depression, prevalence, symptom severity, chronic PTSD, early pregnancy, maternal mental health
- MeSH terms
- Abortion, Spontaneous, Adult, Anxiety, Chronic Disease, Depression, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Netherlands, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Trimesters, Prospective Studies, Risk Factors, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
