Study Links Severe Pregnancy Nausea to Heightened Depression Risk
The study revealed that expectant mothers suffering from extreme morning sickness face elevated depression rates both before conception and following delivery, the institution announced. These women also develop postpartum depression substantially earlier than their counterparts.
"In addition to the physical effects, severe nausea in pregnancy carries a considerable psychosocial burden. However, information on its association with psychiatric illness has been limited so far," researchers stated in the release, noting this marks the first documented identification of such a correlation.
Analyzing medical records from more than 437,000 Finnish women spanning 2004 through 2017, investigators discovered that 8.8% of participants with severe pregnancy nausea had experienced pre-pregnancy depression, versus just 1% among the control population.
"This means that these women were more than five times as likely to experience depression before pregnancy. In addition, they were also about 3.5 times more likely to develop new, previously undiagnosed depression after childbirth," the announcement detailed.
Timing analysis showed depression diagnoses occurred at an average of 3.3 years postpartum among women with severe pregnancy nausea, compared to 4.5 years in the control cohort—a gap exceeding one year.
"Our research shows that severe nausea in pregnancy is not only a physically stressful condition, but also a significant mental health risk factor. The results emphasise the need for improved collaboration between psychiatry, gynecology, and primary care," said doctoral researcher Eeva Terava-Utti.
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