Postpartum depression linked to babies’ deaths—albeit by natural causes

Researchers have uncovered a statistical association between maternal depression and infant mortality. They made the finding after analyzing records of almost 415,000 infant deaths that occurred well before Lindsay Clancy strangled her 8-month-old baby and two young children in 2023, forcing a blinding spotlight on postpartum mental health. 

Commenting on their findings, Rebecca Woofter, PhD, MPH, and colleagues at Rutgers University emphasize that the link held even after accounting for potential confounders. 

The robustness of the new evidence, the researchers write, “suggests an urgent need to better understand the mechanisms driving the association and identify opportunities for risk mitigation.”

JAMA Network Open published the study Sept. 2.

For the project, the team used first-year death records of babies born between 2016 and 2020 in New Jersey, which requires screening for postpartum depression. 

They performed the statistical analysis between October 2025 and June 2026.

Woofter and fellow researchers found that, of the 414,890 infants included in the analysis, only 906—0.2%—died within 364 days of birth.

More to the point of the study, the infant mortality rate was 7.2 per 1,000 births for infants whose mothers had depressive symptoms vs. 2.0 per 1,000 births for infants whose mothers did not have depressive symptoms. 

“After statistical adjustment for covariates, the relative risk of death within 364 days after birth was higher for infants of mothers with depressive symptoms compared with infants of mothers without depressive symptoms,” the authors report. “This association was consistent across maternal race and ethnicity, educational level, insurance status and infant preterm birth.”

Causes of death: unfortunate but not irregular  

Notably in light of the global uproar over the Clancy court case, the leading causes of infant death in the study had nothing to do with homicidal moms. 

Instead, the researchers found associations between maternal depressive symptoms and infant deaths due to: 

1. prematurity-related conditions (adjusted relative risk, or ARR, 4.07); 
    
2. perinatal conditions (ARR, 5.12); 
    
3. congenital malformations and chromosomal abnormalities (ARR, 3.56); and 
    
4. sudden infant death syndrome (ARR, 2.08).

Also of note, the mothers of the deceased infants had a mean age of 30.5 years. The majority, 63.0%, were born in the U.S., and 70.6% had completed high school or college. 

Mothers and infants in the spotlight   

In their discussion section, Woofter and fellow researchers note their findings’ implications for clinical practice and governmental policymaking.

“Although [postpartum depression] screening mandates have been associated with increased screening rates, New Jersey is one of only 8 states with a mandate,” they point out. (The others are Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Oklahoma and West Virginia.)

“Screening in the hospital may be particularly useful due to barriers to accessing postpartum healthcare after discharge, especially for those with depression,” they add. “However, screening does not necessarily lead to diagnoses or mental health treatment.”

More:

‘Collaboration between obstetricians and pediatricians may help ensure continuity of care from pregnancy to postpartum and improve both maternal and infant health. … Efforts are needed to better understand the mechanisms linking maternal depressive symptoms and infant mortality and to identify opportunities to mitigate risk of infant mortality.’

The study is posted in full for free.