New Postpartum Depression Drug Relieves Symptoms for 2 Weeks: Study

A new postpartum depression drug, developed by the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in New York, moves closer to commercial release after Phase 3 of its clinical trials showed that it could effectively relieve symptoms for two weeks.

The study for the drug, Zuranolone, revealed promising results after 45 percent of the participants exhibited sustained remission from postpartum depression symptoms by day 15, and 53 percent were confirmed to be in complete remission by day 45. The findings of the study were released in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. 

Dr. Kristina Deligiannidis, the lead investigator of the trial, is confident that the new postpartum depression drug could be on the market sooner to provide more options for mothers dealing with this mental health issue. 

How Zuralone Works

Developed as a rapid-acting neuroactive steroid pill, Zuranolone works faster than a regular antidepressant and can be easily administered than the first approved postpartum depression drug, Brexanolone. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Brexanolone in March 2019 as a first-in-class antidepressant, but according to Deligiannidis, Zuranolone works differently and can provide easier access to new moms in need. 

READ: Postpartum Can be Just as Stressful as Pregnancy, Here's How to Cope

While Brexanolone has to be infused for 60 hours in a hospital setting, Zuranolone may be administered at home, as the study experts did during the clinical trials, which involved 150 patients across 33 centers in the United States. 

Of these 150 patients, a group was also placed in the placebo-controlled trials. Aside from the sustained and immediate difference of taking the postpartum depression drug, the study participants also showed easy tolerance for Zuralone. 

Dr. Sheryl Kingsberg, an OB-GYN behavioral medicine expert at University Hospitals in Cleveland who is not part of the study, said that the findings for the clinical trials "looks very promising" as the "first effective oral treatment" for postpartum depression. 

Significant Help for New Moms

Statistics show that 13.2 percent of new mothers in the U.S. experience postpartum depression. While it is a common outcome after pregnancy, it can have devastating effects for the mom, the baby, and the family if left undetected, undiagnosed, and untreated.

According to the Mayo Clinic, some of the symptoms of postpartum depression might be mistaken for "baby blues" or fleeting anxiety after birth that typically last a few weeks.

However, postpartum depression is more intense and lasts longer than baby blues, and could impact a mother's ability to function and care for her newborn child. 

The mom could recoil from her child and not bond with the baby, triggering inadequacies. In worst scenarios, this mental health struggle can turn to paranoia and lead to self-harm for the mother, who could also risk harming the baby. 

Tonya Fulwider, 47, shared with the New York Post that she suffered from postpartum depression when she had her daughter in 1998 and did not get some answers from her OB-GYN. She recalled feeling tortured because she wanted to fight the depression to care for the baby, but her mental state was unhealthy. She is grateful that a new postpartum depression drug could soon be available to mothers. 

RELATED ARTICLE: Risks of Postpartum Depression and Everything You Need To Know