Low Levels of Anti-Anxiety Hormones Cause Postpartum Depression

Pregnant women with low levels of the anti-stress hormone allopregnanolone are at risk of developing postpartum depression.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the US say that pregnant women with low levels of the anti-stress hormone allopregnanolone in the second trimester of pregnancy are at a higher risk of developing postpartum depression. Postpartum depression affects the initial bond between mother and child.
According to the study, women with levels of the hormone allopregnanolone of about 3.75 nano-grams per milliliter are 33 percent more likely to develop this disorder. While a woman with 7.5 nano-grams per milliliter of this hormone has a 1.5 percent risk of developing postpartum depression.
According to the researchers, for every nano-gram per liter increase in allopregnanolone, the risk of postpartum depression decreased by 63 percent.
The risk was also much higher in women with behavioral disorders such as major depression or bipolar disorder.
In this study, the research team studied 60 pregnant women between the ages of 18 and 45,

all of whom had previously been diagnosed with behavioral disorders.

Using blood samples, the researchers measured the levels of the hormones progesterone

and allopregnanolone, which is produced by the breakdown of progesterone.

Allopregnanolone is known for its calming and anti-anxiety effects.
No relationship was found between progesterone levels in the second or third trimester of pregnancy

and the likelihood of postpartum depression.

However, the researchers found an association between postpartum

depression and low levels of allopregnanolone in the second trimester.