Scientific study obesity increases the risk of postnatal depression

For many mothers, a short time after birth, strong mood swings occur. This so-called "Bay Blues" can develop into serious postpartum depression, also called postnatal depression. Researchers now found that obesity in the mother increases the risk of contracting such depression.
Strong mood swings after birth
The time of pregnancy, birth and the time thereafter is an incredibly joyful experience for most women. As stated in a press release from the University of Regensburg, a variety of physical - especially hormonal and emotional - changes contribute to this Protect your mother from stress, calm her down and provide her with the necessary caring behavior. However, the time of birth is also associated with the risk of developing mental disorders - for example, anxiety and depression disorders. Around 20 to 25 percent of mothers experience mood swings within the first year after birth. These range from the so-called "postnatal blues" ("baby blues"), which can be overcome in a few days, to postnatal depression (also called postpartum depression) to postnatal psychosis.

Obesity promotes depression after pregnancy. Image: BillionPhotos.com - fotolia

Effects on mothers, fathers and children
Although both mothers suffer from baby blues and many fathers have to struggle with postpartum depression, the causes of such disorders are hardly investigated. This is particularly problematic against the background that the healthy development of the child can also suffer. So far, only a few risk factors have been identified. As the University of Regensburg reported, this includes mental disorders before pregnancy, serious stressful events and smoking during pregnancy and overweight of the mother. Researchers at the university have now gained further insights.

Fatty diet reduces stress resilience
Regensburg scientist led by Prof. dr. Inga Neumann (Department of Animal Physiology and Neurobiology) and PD Dr. med. In a study funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), David Slattery investigated whether a high-fat diet influenced the normal changes in mother's behavior and stress physiology. The experiments were reported to be performed on rodents fed a special fat diet throughout the gestation period. They were able to show that the fatty diet not only increased body weight, but also increased mothers' anxiety and decreased the stress-strain typical of mothers. In addition, the researchers were able to pinpoint the molecular changes in the stress system of the maternal body - in the area of ​​the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis.

Obesity is a risk factor for postnatal anxiety disorders
In summary, the University's press release said the observations provide further evidence that normal maternal changes are important for the mental health of both mother and child. In addition, they show that fatty diet and obesity are risk factors for the development of postnatal anxiety disorders in mothers. Furthermore, both factors reduce the development of an increased stress capacity, which is actually typical for nursing mothers. The results of the study were published in the scientific journal "Scientific Reports". (Ad)