NRSC 4132 Blog

Depression... Baby or no Baby?
"Postpartum depression (PPD) affects up to 19% of all mothers and adversely influences maternal adaptation to motherhood (Gavin et al, 2005) with negative effects on child development, as children of depressive mothers are more vulnerable to develop mental disorders in later life." (Grace et al, 2003)

Every father remembers the day they found out that their wife was going to have a baby! With all the excitement, most fail to acknowledge the mood swings between trimesters and well after the pregnancy. There is more to pregnancy then peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. So, what gives? As the growing baby starts to develop so do new hormones and hormone levels also increase.

Oxytocin is one of the first identified polypeptide hormone also known as the "love hormone." Oxytocin is responsible for increase bonding feeling associated with pregnancy. This study suggests that low levels of oxytocin have a higher risk of postpartum depression. There are other risk factors that can increase chances of postpartum depression such as age under 20, drug/alcohol abuse, increase emotional vulnerability and lack of support.

This study proposed by National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Swiss Etiological Study of Adjustment and Mental Health took 75 pregnant females and tested their levels of oxytocin during the last two weeks of their third trimester along with two weeks after giving birth. After their study they concluded that increasing the level of oxytocin during pregnancy could decrease the severity of postpartum depression.

The researchers did their best to find equal candidates for the study. The research was focused on same age females within the same economic status along with a healthy pregnancy. "A detailed study description was given to all interested women and, if any raised, questions were answered. All participants were screened for the following inclusion criteria: (a) no current mental illness, (b) no severe medical complications (acute or chronic physical diseases, such as gestational diabetes, metabolic diseases, hypertension and thyroid dysfunction), (c) no signs of fetal malformation, (d) a pre-pregnancy BMI below 32, (e) no smoking beyond the 10th week of gestation and (f) good knowledge of German language."

The researchers also discuss that this is one of the first studies done to link postpartum depression and oxytocin levels. They stated that more research needs to be done to see if increasing the levels of oxytocin could help prevent postpartum depression in females. One thing that they acknowledge is that the environment could be influencing the sign and symptoms of postpartum depression.

This was very informational article about oxytocin and postpartum depression. One thing that I find myself amazed on is that oxytocin is also given to induce labor. If increasing the levels helps prevent postpartum depression at what point do we higher the levels, hours before pregnancy, days before or weeks before? If we raise the level, will this also induce labor at a unsafe time in pregnancy?

If you are interested in the original article please reference this online journal at http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v36/n9/full/npp201174a.html