Early detection of postpartum depression? Japanese researchers may have found a way.

51吃瓜网 / Science & Health

Early detection of postpartum depression? Japanese researchers may have found a way.

Researchers have found that a blood test during pregnancy may help predict the likelihood of postpartum depression, which is known to affect between 10% and 20% of women in the period between five days and six weeks after giving birth. | GETTY IMAGES

By Tomoko Otake and Kathleen Benoza
Staff writers

Mar 1, 2023

Researchers at Tohoku University may have found a way to predict a pregnant woman’s likelihood of experiencing postpartum depression via blood analysis.

found that women with postpartum depression displayed contrasting changes in their levels of 37 metabolites — which are involved in the body’s metabolism and energy-generating mechanisms — during pregnancy and the month after delivery compared with women who don’t have the condition.

Specifically, pregnant women with a high chance of having postpartum depression had decreased levels of cytosine and increased levels of erythrulose during pregnancy compared with those without.