New Study Shows a Diabetic Link to Postpartum Depression

Diabetic women are more likely to develop postpartum depression than those who aren’t diabetic, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

This study, the first to analyze the link between diabetes and depression in new moms, may help to identify those women who are most at risk for developing postpartum depression, researchers say. The researchers analyzed the medical records of over 11,000 New Jersey women from 2004 to 2006. These records covered about 6 months before these women’s pregnancies, and up to a year after they gave birth. They found that diabetic women who were pregnant or who became new mothers were more than twice as likely to experience depression than those who did not have diabetes. Of those women in the study, 15 percent of the diabetic women became depressed in the months during, or after their pregnancies, compared with just 8 percent of the non-diabetic women. Though previous studies have indicated a link between diabetes and depression, lead researcher Katy Backes Kozhimannil told Reuters:

Ours is really the first study that looks at this connection in the context of pregnancy, delivery, and motherhood.

Kozhimannil says that this finding could help to identify those women most at risk for postpartum depression, and get them the medical attention that they need. Postpartum depression is a serious form of depression that can lead a new mother to attempt suicide or to hurt her newborn baby. Because of the possible dangers of this illness, early diagnosis is essential in its treatment.