Low oxytocin linked to postpartum depression

By Liz Lockhart

Brenda Goodman reported on WebMD Health News website today that women who have lower levels of the hormone oxytocin may be at a greater risk of developing postpartum depression according to a new study.

Oxytocin has been the subject of much interest and research recently. It is also known as the ‘hormone of love’ and is considered to be responsible for feelings of bonding with your baby and attachment.

Previous studies have suggested that oxytocin is important in parenting behaviour. New fathers who are given a whiff of oxytocin nasal spray are more likely to encourage their children to explore during playtime and are less likely to be hostile compared to fathers given a placebo.

James F. Leckman MD, the Neison Harris Professor in the Child Study Centre at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. says that mothers with higher oxytocin levels are more likely to coo to their babies. 'They also tend to smile more at their infants and are more apt to respond to changes in the baby’s mood with positive, loving touches or happy facial expressions than mothers with lower oxytcin levels'.

Postpartum depression is a condition which affects as many as one in five mothers. This study is one of the first to explore the relationship between oxytocin levels during pregnancy and this risk of postpartum depression.

‘I think this particular finding needs to be replicated’ says Leckman who was not involved in the study. ‘It really is an unfolding story’ he says.

Meanwhile researchers at the University of Basel, Switzerland, measured oxytocin levels in 73 healthy pregnant women. Sixteen reported previous episodes of major depression that had ended at least two years before they joined the study.

Oxytocin levels were measured by taking blood samples during the third trimester of pregnancy. The women were given a written screening test to assess their risk of depression during pregnancy and again within two weeks of giving birth.

14 women were determined to be at risk of postpartum depression based on their test scores. The risk of depression was not different between mothers who were breastfeeding and those who were not.

Lower oxytocin levels before birth were associated with a greater risk of postpartum depression.

‘It may have some predictive value in terms of the mood state of the parent’ Leckman says.

‘Previous studies, for example, have suggested that changing oxytocin levels may have the greatest impact on mood, but this study only measured the hormone once.’ says Curt A Sandman, PhD, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour at the University of California, Irine.

Additionally Sandman says’ Two weeks after birth may be a bit soon to assess depression risk since it’s not uncommon for women to be moody as hormone levels readjust to pre-pregnancy levels’.

Sandman told WebMD ‘There is a small literature about prenatal hormonal risk for postpartum depression and this adds to it and as such is a valuable contribution’.

If low levels of oxytocin do prove to a contributory factor for postpartum depression, thus making detection more readily available, then let’s hope that the treatment of postpartum depression is as successful.