Systematic review, 2020

Does having PMS before pregnancy increase the risk of postpartum depression?

Yes. Women with a history of PMS before pregnancy are 2.20 times more likely to develop postpartum depression. However, the quality of evidence is low, which limits how confident we can be.

Moderate study design 19 observational studies examining women before and after pregnancy

What they did

Researchers searched eight medical databases for observational studies that collected information on PMS before pregnancy and measured depression between one week and one year after delivery.

What they found

19 studies were included. Women with a pre-pregnancy history of PMS had 2.20 times the odds of postpartum depression. However, 11 studies had serious risk of bias and 3 had critical risk of bias.

What it means for you

There is a real connection between PMS and postpartum depression that doctors should be aware of. The main limitation is that most included studies had serious quality problems, so more rigorous prospective studies are needed.

2.20

times higher odds of postpartum depression

studies included

studies with serious bias risk

About the study

Original title: History of premenstrual syndrome and development of postpartum depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Cao S, Jones M, Tooth L et al.
Journal: Journal of psychiatric research
Year: 2020
Study design: Systematic review
What was tested: None
Open access: Yes
Read the paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2019.11.010

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