Hormone Linked Depression Following Pregnancy

Seattle - Researcher from University of California - Irvine may have come out with a groundbreaking discovery. Their experimental studies show that the postpartum stress may directly be linked to a corticotropin releasing hormone in the placenta of pregnant women.

Published in the Achieves of General Psychiatry, the study found that the CRH levels can effectively be predicted in the third month of pregnancy. A high level of CRH will show the possibility of a postpartum stress. It further showed that such tests can be carried out during the routine testing of blood sugar in 24-28 week of labor.

The experiment was conducted on a sample of 100 women. Researchers routinely took blood samples of pregnant women starting from week 15 and discovered that they were able to predict, with 75 percent accuracy, postpartum depression symptoms in 16 women.

Depression during pregnancy put the life of the mother and infant in danger. Doctors have known to use anti-depressants for acute cases but this new discovery will definitely help gynecologists and medical specialist to come out with a possible solution, before it’s too late.