Female friendships and social support during the perinatal period

Abstract

Pregnancy can be a positive yet stressful life transition for women as all domains of their life are changing in preparation for motherhood. With this period being so challenging, Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADs) are a common pregnancy complication. Social support has been reported to buffer negative health outcomes for mother and baby during pregnancy, but little research reports on the different relationships and forms of support present in mothers' social networks during pregnancy. In particular, female friendships are an underexamined social support relationship that could have an association with mental health outcomes during this time. The current study examines the protective effect of female friendships (conceptualized as non-maternal relatives and friends) for perinatal mental health and infant birthweights. Data were collected from 38 women from a diverse community sample experiencing low-income and unemployment during pregnancy. Participants completed an adapted version of the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale at 30-weeks gestation, and self-reported infant birthweight at 6-weeks postpartum. Descriptive statistics were conducted to describe the prevalence and characteristics of female friendships and linear regressions and moderation analyses were conducted to examine associations with maternal and infant health outcomes. The current study was the first to examine the presence and support provided by female friendships during pregnancy. Thirty-eight percent of women reported a female friendship among their top four supporters during pregnancy. Findings suggest that female friendships were not a protective factor against negative health outcomes, which may be attributed to similarities in other aspects of women's social support network (i.e., types of social support, similar supporters listed among women with and without female friendships). A salient predictor of differences among women with and without female friendships is women with female friendships cohabitating with an unmarried partner and having more children. Despite not being able to provide evidence that female friendships buffered against perinatal and infant health outcomes, the current study was able to provide unique characterizations of women's relationships during pregnancy.