For other factors, notably C-sections, the jury is still out. For certain aspects, such as bottle-feeding rather than breastfeeding, a consistent connection has been identified. Current leading treatments are psychotherapy, medication with antidepressants, hormonal therapy and participation in a support group, possibly in combination.Īrticle continues after advertisementMany different factors have been implicated in postpartum depression and other pregnancy-related woes. The standard medical approach to treating pregnancy-related depression is much the same as for any other major form of depression, eloquently described by Lewis Wolpert as “malignant sadness.” It is generally accepted that women are more likely to be diagnosed with major depression than men. File licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. In this case, other significant factors included C-section, with which the risk of postnatal depression was almost tripled. Higher EPDS scores were significantly associated with a decreased (approximately halved) likelihood of breastfeeding. A very recent paper by Hsiao-Chen Chiu and colleagues examined the risk of postpartum depression in relation to early breastfeeding in 333 pregnant women.

Although the risk of postpartum depression was somewhat greater in women following births by Caesarean section, the difference was not statistically significant. Other associations emerged for prior depression (risk increased almost 90%) and smoking (risk increased almost 60%). The strongest was found with bottle-feeding, with a risk of depression more than twice as high as for breastfeeding mothers. Three out of six risk factors examined showed significant associations. Subsequently, in 2006, a paper by Sarah Breese McCoy and colleagues (again using EPDS) compared women assessed four weeks after birth, 81 flagged for postpartum depression and 128 not.

Postpartum depression insomnia