Researchers speculate the stress associated with military service in a war zone combined with the hormonal and physiological changes that accompany pregnancy could bring on or worsen various mental health conditions in female veterans.
And recent studies have shown children born to depressed mothers run the risk of having any number of problems: increased stress hormones, low birth weight, and diminished hand-to-mouth coordination.
For this study, Kristin Mattocks, PhD, Yale University School of Medicine and colleagues from VA Connecticut Healthcare System, Indiana University School of Medicine, and UCLA School of Public Health reviewed the records of more than 43,000 women veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan and completed their military service between 2001 and 2008.
"With the increased number of women serving in the military, it is important that we understand their unique health issues such as mental health problems during pregnancy," says Editor-in-Chief Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA.
There have been several studies this year regarding how female members of the military deal with the stress of combat, especially once they have returned home.
While they tend to handle it better than their male counterparts, female veterans are more likely to commit suicide than women who have never been in the military.
Those with the highest risk of suicide are female veterans ages 18 to 34.
The authors emphasize the importance of identifying and providing appropriate diagnostic and treatment services for this at-risk population in the paper entitled, "Pregnancy and Mental Health Among Women Veterans Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, which is available free online.
