Could a New Blood Test Help Prevent Postpartum Depression?

Researchers hope that a new blood test for pregnant women could help find out if they're at risk for developing postpartum depression. The new test would allow doctors to give women early treatment to reduce the severity of the condition or prevent it from developing at all, according to the Telegraph.

Experts anticipate the new blood test will become available within two years, as early trials of the test done on 52 mothers have shown to be at least 85 percent accurate in predicting post-partum depression.

The new blood test spots two genes in a woman's DNA that are present in certain forms of pregnancy, and that may "signal the onset of the condition, and could provide early warnings of the debilitating sadness, irritability, depression and loss of appetite that affect almost one in five new mothers within weeks of giving birth."

Women who have the two genes present during their pregnancy are thought to be "susceptible to the effects of pregnancy hormones on the brain," leaving them more vulnerable to stress in the early stages of motherhood.

Postpartum, or pre-natal, depression can last for more than a year, and its most extreme cases can have tragic results such as women killing themselves and their children. Studies have also found that the children of affected women are at a higher risk of developing their own mental health illnesses and problems. 

"Post-partum depression can be harmful to both mother and child," Dr. Zachary Kaminsky, the researcher who led the study at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said. "But we don't have a reliable way to screen for the condition before it causes harm. A test like this could be that way."

Dr. Kaminsky thinks the new blood test will allow high risk women to be treated early on, whether being prescribed anti-depressants during pregnancy or helping them look for warning signs to seek treatment before developing depression.

"If you knew you were likely to develop post-partum depression, your decisions about managing your care could be made more clearly," he said. Like ordinary depression, post-partum depression is treated through a combination of counselling and medication.

Postpartum depression has been found to more likely affect women who are pregnant with boys, according to the Daily Mail. Actress Gwenyth Paltrow is among famous mothers who have struggled with postpartum depression.

Paltrow has described the time after giving birth to her son, Moses, as being one of "the darkest and most painfully debilitating" times in her life. Researchers foresee the new blood test will look for the two genes in pregnant women could prevent mothers struggling with such painful times so they can enjoy their children after birth.