Scientists have discovered that the disruption of the brain’s stress-response system may be the cause of the baby blues.

 

Your body endures a lot of stress and trauma when you give birth. Your hormone levels will change and your sleeping pattern will be disrupted. You may also feel anxious, lost or anxious about your new role as a mum.

 

Suffering from postpartum depression is common, affecting one in nine women. This is due to changes in your hormone levels, but scientists believe that there is one specific cause for certain cases.

 

Neuroscientists have shared that a certain disruptive protein may be responsible for those feelings of confusion, upset, and anxiousness.

 

 

The researchers stated that a lack of protein disrupts the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The HPA axis manages how the body responds to stress, which is why many new mums may suffer from symptoms including insomnia, anxiety, and loss of appetite.

 

The study, which was conducted by researchers at Tufts University in Massachusetts, looked at the link between postpartum depression and the KCC2 brain protein.

 

They discovered that lack of this protein had a major impact on the brain’s stress-response system.

 

Dr Laverne Camille Melón, shared: “Pregnancy obviously involves great changes to a woman's body, but we're only now beginning to understand the significant unseen adaptations occurring at the neurochemical and circuitry level that may be important to maintaining mental health and maternal behavior in the first few weeks to months following delivery.”

 

 

However, she stated that every case is unique, “The mechanisms underlying one woman's postpartum depression may differ from another's.”

 

“There is much more we need to learn, but we believe our model will be useful for testing novel therapeutic compounds for postpartum depression,” she added.

 

For further information on postpartum depression, click here.

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