Depression: Leading Cause of Preterm Births

A new British study indicates that clinical depression in pregnant women is the number one cause of premature births, which could raise the risk of cerebral palsy and other neurological birth defects.

The corticotropin releasing-hormone (CRH), also referred to as stress hormones, play a vital role in the healthy development of a fetus. If a pregnant woman gets depressed, the CRH hormone levels soar, triggering labor.

Study Findings

Researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry in London found that clinically depressed women had significantly higher levels of stress hormones in their blood than healthy pregnant women. The CRH hormones led to a shorter pregnancy length in the participants reviewed in the study.

Because CRH levels naturally increase during a pregnancy, it is much more risky for a woman to suffer depression. Additionally, babies born to depressed mothers experienced lower saliva cortisol responses at eights weeks of age, which makes them less able to respond to stressful situations.

Treatment Vital

Treatment of depression, particularly in pregnant women, is of the utmost importance, said Dr. Veronica O'Keane, expert on mental health during pregnancy. “There is a myth, that doesn't have any scientific support that depression doesn't happen during pregnancy, that women are happy during pregnancy. But that just isn't true.”

Preterm babies—those born before 37 weeks of pregnancy—are more likely to die during their first weeks of life. Those that survive often suffer permanent disabilities such as cerebral palsy, lung disease, deafness, or blindness.

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