Women are at higher risk of two mental health problems in the weeks after childbirth, study finds

Postpartum women are at higher risk of depression and psychosis in the weeks after childbirth, a major new analysis shows.

Compared to the year before pregnancy, the risk of depression is about 20 per cent higher in the five to 15 weeks after childbirth, according to the study, which was published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

Meanwhile, the risk of psychosis is six to seven times higher in the first five weeks postpartum, and twice as high through week 20, the analysis found.

Unlike the “baby blues” – mild and temporary mood changes after childbirth – postpartum psychosis is a serious mental health condition. Symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, mania, low mood, and confusion, but women can make a full recovery if they get the right treatment.

“The drastic peak observed postpartum clearly highlights the vulnerability” of new mothers, the researchers wrote.

The findings were based on data from nearly 1.8 million births in Sweden between 2003 and 2019. They indicate that the number of new mental health diagnoses tends to fall during pregnancy, but then rise again after childbirth – particularly for depression and psychosis.

Notably, women were less likely to be diagnosed with anxiety, stress, or substance abuse during or after pregnancy than they were beforehand, which the researchers said could be due to a combination of biological and lifestyle changes.

Women also see their doctors more often during pregnancy, meaning there could be more opportunities to identify mental health issues before they spiral into bigger problems.

“We don't see that more people are being diagnosed, but screening could mean that women are identified earlier and don't have to suffer as long before they can get the support and help they need,” Emma Bränn, one of the study’s authors and a researcher at the Karolinska Institutet, said in a statement.

Across the globe, about 10 per cent of pregnant women and 13 per cent of postpartum women have a mental disorder, usually depression, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Yet despite the risk of poor mental health in the postpartum period, new parents in Sweden are less likely to attempt suicide in the weeks after their babies are born, according to another recent study from the institute.

Mothers, in particular, are less likely to attempt suicide during or after pregnancy compared to fathers – which is notable given that in the overall Swedish population, women are more likely to attempt suicide than men.

Yihui Yang, who worked on both studies as a researcher at Karolinska Institutet, said the findings indicate doctors should monitor patients during pregnancy for signs that they may be at risk of suicide.

“Although suicide attempts during and after pregnancy are rare, they can have devastating consequences and are often preventable,” Yang said.

If you are contemplating suicide and need to talk, please reach out to Befrienders Worldwide, an international organisation with helplines in 32 countries. Visit befrienders.org to find the telephone number for your location.