What is the impact of animal husbandry on the health of the pregnant woman?

What is the impact of animal husbandry on the health of the pregnant woman?

A new study has found that owning a cat during pregnancy increases a mother's risk of postpartum depression. In contrast, researchers have discovered that owning dogs reduces this risk, as well as other mental health problems such as anxiety and psychological distress after birth.

Pregnant cat owners are also at risk of contracting the parasitic toxoplasmosis, which causes an infectious disease that can lead to miscarriage, infant abnormality or brain disorder.

mental health disorders

Study lead author Kenta Matsumura said: “We discovered that the type of pet owned can affect a mother's mental health, both during pregnancy and after childbirth. Our findings suggest that special attention should be paid to cat owners, who have a higher risk of developing mental health complications in addition to toxoplasmosis.”

Previous studies have looked at the relationship between pet ownership and the mental health of different populations around the world. But many women have never been targeted during and after childbirth, when they are at increased risk of mental health disorders.

Pets and mental health

The team of researchers led by Professor Matsumura designed a questionnaire to investigate how pet ownership affects the mental health of pregnant women. Data was collected on multiple factors including demographic, socio-economic status, medical and obstetric history, physical and psychological health and lifestyle.

Participating from 80814 mothers in both urban and rural areas of Japan who owned either dogs or cats during pregnancy, data were presented on five occasions, in the first trimester, in the second or third trimester, and at one month, six months and one year after birth.

Advantages of dogs and depression of cats

The results revealed that owning a dog during pregnancy was associated with reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety at one and six months after birth. New mothers with dogs also showed signs of reduced stress at 12 months after birth.

In contrast, cat ownership was associated with an increased risk of depressive symptoms at six months after birth. Symptoms of psychological distress have also been observed in the second or third trimester of pregnancy for both owners of pregnant cats and owners of pregnant dogs.

But it was very similar to a reference group of non-pet mothers.

The researchers concluded that the type of pet owned during pregnancy plays a role in the mother's mental health before and after birth, suggesting that dogs' long history of domestication may be the reason for their beneficial effect on mood.

Mentally weak mothers

The exact mechanism behind the discovery of an increased risk of mental health problems with cat ownership is not known.

The researchers also explained that “observed relationships do not necessarily mean that owning a dog will prevent mothers from developing postpartum depression or psychological distress. For example, the possibility that pregnant mothers with poor mental health tend not to have dogs but to have cats cannot be excluded.”