Postpartum Depression May Last Up to Three Years, Study Finds

“Our study indicates that six months may not be long enough to gauge depressive symptoms,” said Diane Putnick, PhD, the primary author and a staff scientist in the NICHD Epidemiology Branch. She recommended that long-term data are key to improve and understand mom’s mental health, as the mother’s mental health is crucial to her health as well as the child’s well-being and development.

The Upstate KIDS study was the base for this study where babies born between 2008 and 2010 from 57 counties in New York State were included. The new study followed the 5,000 women for three years after childbirth. There was a brief, five item-depression screening questionnaires. However, there wasn’t any clinical diagnosis of depression among the women. They found that women with pre-existing mood disorders or gestational diabetes were more susceptible to show higher levels of depressive symptoms in the study for a longer time.