Hormonal changes in the postpartum and implications for postpartum depression

Victoria Hendrick; Lori L. Altshuler; Rita Suri

doi:10.1016/S0033-3182(98)71355-6

Postpartum Mental Health

Hormonal changes in the postpartum and implications for postpartum depression

Hendrick V, Altshuler LL, Suri R

Published May 19, 1998 Psychosomatics, 39(2), 93-101

DOI 10.1016/S0033-3182(98)71355-6 PMID 9584534

Abstract

The months following childbirth are a time of heightened vulnerability to depressive mood changes. Because of the abrupt and dramatic changes occurring in hormone levels after delivery, many studies have examined the role of hormonal factors in postpartum depression. The authors review the literature on potential hormonal etiologies in postpartum depression, in particular for progesterone, estrogen, prolactin, cortisol, oxytocin, thyroid, and vasopressin. While evidence for an etiologic role is lacking for most hormones, changes in certain hormonal axes may contribute to depressive mood changes in some women following childbirth.

Topics

Postpartum › Mental Health › Postpartum Depression · Reproductive Endocrinology › Neuroendocrinology › Hypothalamic Pituitary Axis

Victoria Hendrick, Lori L. Altshuler, Rita Suri

V Hendrick, L Altshuler, R Suri

PMID 9584534 9584534 DOI 10.1016/S0033-3182(98)71355-6 10.1016/S0033-3182(98)71355-6 Hendrick et al. 1998, Hendrick 1998

Keywords

Depression, Postpartum/blood/psychology, Estrogens/blood, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone/blood, Pituitary Hormones/blood, Pregnancy, Progesterone/analysis/blood, Thyroid Hormones/blood, Estrogens, Pituitary Hormones, Thyroid Hormones, Progesterone, Hydrocortisone

Hormonal changes in the postpartum and implications for postpartum depression

Abstract

Topics

By this author

Course of mood and anxiety disorders during pregnancy and the postpartum period

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Keywords