Biol Psychiatry Glob Open Sci. 2025 Jan 29;5(3):100454. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2025.100454. eCollection 2025 May.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a serious mental health problem that affects about 17% of mothers. The aims of the current study were to observe the associations between prenatal stress, self- and expert-rated PPD, and prepartal and postpartal hair cortisol and cortisone concentrations as proxies for altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity (HPA-AA).
METHODS: A total of 129 mothers (mean age 33.1 years) completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale 3 days (baseline) and 12 weeks (study end) postpartum. At the end of the study, participants reported on prepartum stressful life events, experts rated participants’ symptoms of depression, and participants provided 6 cm of hair strands for analysis of hair glucosteroid levels 12 weeks before and 12 weeks after delivery.
RESULTS: Prepartal stress was associated with higher scores for self- and expert-rated PPD and with lower hair cortisone concentrations as a proxy for less adaptive HPA-AA. Higher prepartal and postpartal hair cortisol/cortisone ratios (i.e., higher cortisol/lower cortisone concentrations) were associated with higher PPD symptom scores.
CONCLUSIONS: Women with prepartal stress were at increased risk of experiencing PPD 12 weeks after delivery. Altered hair steroid levels (lower cortisone concentrations) as a proxy for altered HPA-AA further substantiated this association. Results suggest that 1) both prepartal stress and the suppression of HPA-AA appear to be involved in the development of PPD; 2) hair steroid analysis can be used to predict PPD; and 3) women with prepartal stressful life events may benefit from timely support and relief to decrease their risk of developing PPD.
PMID:40115745 | PMC:PMC11925523 | DOI:10.1016/j.bpsgos.2025.100454
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