Health impact of disaster‐related stress on pregnant women living in the affected area of the Noto Peninsula earthquake in Japan

Abstract

The present study assessed the health impact of stress on women who were pregnant during, or immediately after, a major earthquake and were living in the disaster area. Inherent resistance against the stress induced by the earthquake was also assessed. The panel study consisted of 99 women who provided responses before and after delivery (response rate, 77.9%). Psychological impact was assessed on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and stress resistance was assessed on the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC). In adjusted multivariate models, the significant earthquake factor that predicted postnatal depression (EPDS) was 'existing anxiety about an earthquake' (beta = 0.27, P = 0.01) and 'parity' (beta = -0.26, P = 0.02). The SOC during pregnancy significantly moderated between 'existing anxiety about an earthquake' and 'EPDS' (beta = -0.21, P = 0.02). During pregnancy the EDPS was a significant predictor of a physical abnormality during pregnancy or childbirth (odds ratio, 1.21; 95% confidence interval: 1.04-1.41). The SOC during pregnancy did not moderate between a physical abnormality and earthquake-related stress. Provision of an adequate support system and improvement of the SOC of young women affected by a disaster may be two ways of reducing the deleterious effects of disaster-related stress on maternal well-being.