J Midwifery Womens Health. 2007 Jan-Feb;52(1):56-62.

The role of exercise in treating postpartum depression: a review of the literature.
Daley AJ, Macarthur C, Winter H.

Department of Primary Care and General Practice Clinical Sciences Building, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

There is now evidence to support the antidepressant effects of exercise in general and in clinical populations. This article reviews the evidence regarding the potential role of exercise, particularly pram walking, as an adjunctive treatment for postpartum depression. Database searches revealed two small randomised controlled trials conducted in Australia which support exercise as a useful treatment for women with postpartum depression. In addition, uncontrolled studies and observational evidence suggest that postpartum women, some of whom were depressed, report benefit from participation in exercise programmes. There are plausible mechanisms by which exercise could have such an effect. Limited evidence supports a relationship between participation in exercise and reduction in postpartum depression. Given the reluctance by some women to use antidepressant medication postpartum and the limited availability of psychological therapies, exercise as a therapeutic possibility deserves further exploration. Further research using well-designed randomised controlled trial methodologies are warranted.

Determinants of Pregnancy and Postpartum Depression: Prospective Influences of Depressive Symptoms, Body Image Satisfaction, and Exercise Behavior.

Research by Downs DS, Dinallo JM, Kirner TL.
Department of Kinesiology, The Pennsylvania State University, 268Q Recreation Building, University Park, PA, 16802-5701, USA, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

BACKGROUND: Limited research has prospectively examined women's exercise and psychological health behaviors before, during, and after pregnancy. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between and the extent to which depressive symptoms (DS), body image satisfaction (BIS), and exercise behavior (E prospectively explained trimester-specific and postpartum depression.

METHODS: Participants (N = 230 pregnant women) completed self-reported measures midway through their first, second, and third trimesters and at 6-weeks postpartum from 2005 to 2007. Women were also classified based on current activity guidelines as active and somewhat active to examine the moderating influence of pre-pregnancy EB on the contributions of the study variables for explaining DS. RESULTS: We found that : (a) DS, BIS, and EB were associated across the three pregnancy time points and postpartum, (b) DS and BIS were main determinants of later depression in pregnancy and postpartum, and (c) the moderating influence of pre-pregnancy EB was evident in early pregnancy.

CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary findings suggest that DS and BIS are important psychological factors for intervention to improve women's pregnancy and postpartum psychological health and that EB in the pre-pregnancy period may offer women protective effects against DS in early pregnancy.

Published in Ann Behav Med. 2008 Sep 5.