Gestational diabetes likely to elevate depression risk following childbirth

The study also found that among women with a history of depression, pre-gestational diabetes and mild preterm delivery increased the risk of postpartum depression.

New Delhi: In a new study, scientists say that gestational diabetes most likely may elevate the depression risk in women following childbirth.

Gestational diabetes is a form of high blood sugar affecting pregnant women.

The findings showed that women with a history of depression are more than 20 times more likely to experience postpartum depression than mothers without a previous clinical diagnosis of depression.

"While having diabetes increases postpartum depression risk for all women, for those women who have had a past depressive episode, having diabetes during pregnancy makes it 70 per cent more likely that they will develop postpartum depression," said lead author Michael E. Silverman, Assistant Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, US.

Postpartum depression can result in negative personal and child developmental outcomes.

In addition, the study found that among women with a history of depression, pre-gestational diabetes and mild preterm delivery increased the risk of postpartum depression.

(With IANS inputs)