LONDON, Aug 02, 2001 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Depression among pregnant women, while not well understood, is more common than the more talked about postpartum baby blues, according to a study released Thursday.

Researchers led by Jonathan Evans, a psychiatrist at the University of Bristol in England, studied 9,028 women living in England from April 1991 to December 1992. All of the women gave birth to a single infant who survived at least the first 12 months of life. Moods were recorded throughout the pregnancy and after childbirth through a series of questionnaires. Symptoms of depression, such as a lack of interest to carry on daily activities or feelings of hopelessness, were reported to researchers. What they found was that depression appeared to peak during the third and final trimester of pregnancy, at around 32 weeks gestation. Depression was lowest at an average of eight months after the baby was born, according to a study published in the Aug. 3 issue of the British Medical Journal. While depression symptoms were higher during pregnancy than afterward, researchers noted the severity of the symptoms did not change after childbirth.

"We don't know why" depression might be higher during pregnancy than after, Evans told United Press International. Although the study did not look at the reasons why these women felt depressed, there could be multiple factors, he said, such as anxiety about becoming a mother or anxiety about handling another baby if the woman already had other children. A lack of support from the woman's partner or the father of the baby, whether the pregnancy was planned or not, and if the mother was underage also could contribute, Evans said.

"There doesn't appear to be anything (biologically) unique about pregnancy that brings out depression," he said.

How prevalent depression during pregnancy -- also known as antepartum depression -- is in the United States or in the United Kingdom is not known because it typically goes unnoticed. Dr. Yvonne Thornton, an obstetrician-gynecologist at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York, said often times women who develop depression during pregnancy were experiencing emotional distress prior to conception. Depressive symptoms, Thornton told UPI, are "usually uncovered or exacerbated during pregnancy because of the lifestyle changes."

Thornton added Americans are too quick to dismiss emotional distress during pregnancy as a result of hormone fluctuations that occur throughout gestation. To date, there has been no study indicating whether peaks and valleys in estrogen and progesterone levels during pregnancy have an effect on emotional balance, Thornton said.

Why some women develop the better-known postpartum depression and others do not, remains unclear. The British team pointed out that doctors have speculated an overactive thyroid, low blood sugar or even hypertension may contribute to a vulnerability to postpartum depression. "Depression in pregnancy is overlooked and has been overshadowed by the idea that depression is particularly common postnatally," Evans said. The report concluded it is critical pregnant women be questioned about possible symptoms of depression because an unhealthy psychological state could impact the health of a developing fetus.

　　From Healthy.net