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Preterm Birth Linked to Higher Anxiety in Fathers 6 Weeks Later

MHD card showing a father's silhouette reaching through the porthole of a glowing neonatal incubator to hold a newborn's tiny hand, illustrating a study in which preterm birth was linked to higher anxiety in fathers 6 weeks later.

Expectant fathers whose partners were hospitalized for threatened preterm labor reported more distress during pregnancy, and when the baby did arrive early, their anxiety was still higher 6 weeks after birth. The findings come from a 2026 German study that followed 116 fathers.1 Research Highlights Anxiety lingered after preterm birth: 6 weeks after birth, fathers …

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12-Item Postpartum Specific Anxiety Scale (PSAS): Reliable Total Score in Brazilian Mothers

MHD card showing a night-blue silhouette of a mother cradling a swaddled baby, outlined in green-gold light, beside a glowing 12-line checklist under a crescent moon, illustrating a short postpartum anxiety questionnaire tested in Brazilian mothers.

A 12-item questionnaire built around the worries of new motherhood held up well in a 2026 study of 189 Brazilian mothers. Its total score was reliable and tracked general anxiety and depression, though 2 of its 3-item subscores were weaker.1 Research Highlights Four worry areas held together: the Brazilian version of the Postpartum Specific Anxiety …

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Pregnancy Inflammation Linked to 79% Lower Postpartum Anxiety Odds

Stylized illustration of a pregnant silhouette with overlay of immune cells and a postpartum anxiety questionnaire, illustrating the inverse association between pregnancy inflammation indices and postpartum anxiety risk.

The depression-inflammation literature has firmly established that elevated inflammatory markers track with mood symptoms, but a 2026 study of 14,419 postpartum women from Xie et al. found the opposite pattern for postpartum anxiety: women with higher second-trimester platelet-neutrophil products and related immune-inflammation indices had substantially lower postpartum anxiety risk.1 Research Highlights Higher second-trimester PPN was …

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