The lead author of the study, Katy Backes Kozhimannil, of Harvard Medical School in Boston, said, "Those with diabetes have nearly twice the risk of depressiondefine during pregnancy and post-partum."
Kozhimannil also added that diabetic females, who had never been depressed before, too developed a risk during pregnancy. She said, "One in 10 women who had no indication of prior depression received a diagnosis of depression within a year following delivery."
Study author said that the pregnant women are routinely screened for diabetes between the 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy, but screening for depression is not a standard part of care.
In the current study, Kozhimannil and Bernard Harlow from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care examined the medical data of more than 11,000 low-income women enrolled in New Jersey's Medicaid program.
The researchers found that 15.2 percent of the women who suffered from blood sugar disorder were depressed during pregnancy or in the first year after childbirth as compared with 8.5 percent of non-diabetic women during the same time period. Those differences remained irrespective of factors such as the age, race, delivery year or gestational age at birth of the mothers.
"To our knowledge, our study is the first to present data on the association between diabetes and depression during the perinatal period," the authors write. "Treatable, perinatal depression is underdiagnosed, and it is important to target detection and support efforts toward women at high risk."
This is the first ever study to link diabetes to postpartum depression in new mums, however, past studies have established an association between diabetes and depression in the general adult populations.
The findings of the study appear in this week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
A past study found that postpartum depression can also lead to poor sleep quality. The researchers found that depression symptoms worsen in PPD patients when their quality of sleep declines.
Postpartum means “after birth” and postpartum depression is a term used to describe a range of physical and emotional changes that many mothers experience after having a baby. Some women experience depression right after birth, but it may happen anytime during the first year, usually between two and six months after birth.
The severity of the depression can range from very mild and almost non-existent, to very severe and long-term. The symptoms include depressed mood, inability to enjoy pleasurable activities, tearfulness, trouble sleeping, fatigue, appetite problems, suicidal thoughts, feelings of dissatisfaction as a parent and impaired concentration.
Some of the risk factors for PPD are history of depression, troubled relationships, domestic violence, stressful life events, financial problems, lack of social or emotional support, a difficult pregnancy or delivery and health problems with the baby.
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