# Association between social relationship of mentors and depressive symptoms in first-time mothers during the transition from pregnancy to 6-months postpartum

## TL;DR

The study finds that first-time mothers mentored by mothers or sisters have fewer depressive symptoms postpartum, while those mentored by volunteers also benefit when family mentors are unavailable.

## Contribution

This study identifies how different mentor relationships affect depressive symptoms in first-time mothers during the postpartum transition.

## Key findings

- Women mentored by mothers or sisters had the lowest depressive symptoms.
- Mentorship by volunteers was beneficial when family mentors were unavailable.
- Depressive symptoms decreased significantly for mother-, sister-, and volunteer-mentored groups.

## Abstract

First-time motherhood is characterized by high psychosocial distress, which untreated, has serious consequences. Informal social support provided by specially trained mentors may be protective against postpartum depressive symptoms but may vary by women’s social relationship with the mentor. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of types of mentors on women’s depressive symptoms between late pregnancy to 6-months postpartum and the characteristics of women associated with mentor type.

This study was a secondary analysis of data from a community sample of 312 primiparous women from a single-group, longitudinal intervention study of Welcome to Parenthood. Welcome to Parenthood provided education and mentorship for women during the transition from pregnancy to postpartum. Women completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) in late pregnancy, and 2- and 6-months postpartum.

Women who recently relocated were less likely to be mentored by their mothers and more likely to be mentored by friends or volunteers. Women who were mentored by their mothers or sisters scored the lowest on the EPDS; those mentored by their mothers-in-law scored the highest. Women who were mentored by other family, friends, or volunteers scored between the two extremes. EPDS scores of women mentored by each type of mentor decreased from pregnancy to 6-months postpartum; only for mother-, sister-, and volunteer-mentored groups was this decrease significant.

During transition to parenthood, support provided by mothers or sisters is best for women’s mental health but may not always be available to women who have recently relocated. In such situations, specially trained community volunteers may be the second-best option.