The role of depression in subsequent infertility, miscarriage and stillbirth remains unclear. This study aimed to examine the association of a history of depression with these adverse outcomes using a longitudinal cohort study of women across their reproductive life span.

This study used data from participants in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health who were born in 1973–1978. Participants (N = 8707) were followed up every 3 years from 2000 (aged 22–27) to 2018 (aged 40–45). Information on a diagnosis of depression was collected from each survey, and antidepressant medication use was identified through pharmaceutical prescription data. Histories of infertility, miscarriage, and stillbirth were self-reported at each survey. Time-lagged log-binomial models with generalized estimating equations were used to assess the association of a history of depression up to and including in a given survey with the risk of fertility issues in the next survey.

Women with a history of depression (excluding postnatal depression) were at higher risk of infertility [risk ratio (RR) = 1.34, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.21–1.48], miscarriage (RR = 1.22, 95%CI: 1.10–1.34) and recurrent miscarriages (≥2; RR = 1.39, 95%CI: 1.17–1.64), compared to women without a history of depression. There were too few stillbirths to provide clear evidence of an association. Antidepressant medication use did not affect the observed associations. Estimated RRs of depression with infertility and miscarriage increased with age.

A history of depression was associated with higher risk of subsequent infertility, miscarriage and recurrent miscarriages.

Many women experience both vasomotor menopausal symptoms (VMS) and depressed mood at midlife, but little is known regarding the prospective bi-directional relationships between VMS and depressed mood and the role of sleep difficulties in both directions.

A pooled analysis was conducted using data from 21 312 women (median: 50 years, interquartile range 49−51) in eight studies from the InterLACE consortium. The degree of VMS, sleep difficulties, and depressed mood was self-reported and categorised as never, rarely, sometimes, and often (if reporting frequency) or never, mild, moderate, and severe (if reporting severity). Multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine the bi-directional associations adjusted for within-study correlation.

At baseline, the prevalence of VMS (40%, range 13–62%) and depressed mood (26%, 8–41%) varied substantially across studies, and a strong dose-dependent association between VMS and likelihood of depressed mood was found. Over 3 years of follow-up, women with often/severe VMS at baseline were more likely to have subsequent depressed mood compared with those without VMS (odds ratios (OR) 1.56, 1.27–1.92). Women with often/severe depressed mood at baseline were also more likely to have subsequent VMS than those without depressed mood (OR 1.89, 1.47–2.44). With further adjustment for the degree of sleep difficulties at baseline, the OR of having a subsequent depressed mood associated with often/severe VMS was attenuated and no longer significant (OR 1.13, 0.90–1.40). Conversely, often/severe depressed mood remained significantly associated with subsequent VMS (OR 1.80, 1.38–2.34).

Difficulty in sleeping largely explained the relationship between VMS and subsequent depressed mood, but it had little impact on the relationship between depressed mood and subsequent VMS.

To compare women's diets with recommended intakes from the new Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADG 2013).

Cross-sectional study using data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Diet was assessed using a validated FFQ.

Two nationally representative age cohorts of Australian women.

Women in the young cohort (born 1973–1978, aged 31–36 years) and mid-age cohort (born 1946–1951, aged 50–55 years). Women (n 18 226) were categorised into three groups: ‘young women’ (n 5760), young ‘pregnant women’ at the time or who had given birth in the 12 months prior to the survey (n 1999) and ‘mid-age women’ (n 10 467).

Less than 2 % of women in all three groups attained the ADG 2013 recommendation of five daily servings of vegetables, with the majority needing more than two additional servings. For young women, less than one-third met recommendations for fruit (32%) and meat and alternatives (28 %), while only a small minority did so for dairy (12 %) and cereals (7 %). Fifty per cent of pregnant women met guidelines for fruit, but low percentages reached guidelines for dairy (22 %), meat and alternatives (10 %) and cereals (2·5 %). For mid-age women, adherence was higher for meat and alternatives (41 %) and cereals (45 %), whereas only 1 % had the suggested dairy intake of four daily servings.

For most women to follow ADG 2013 recommendations would require substantially increased consumption of cereals, vegetables and dairy. Findings have implications for tailoring the dissemination of dietary guidelines for women in different age groups and for pregnant women.