Objective: To identify and describe dietary patterns in a cohort of
pregnant women, and investigate whether dietary patterns during
pregnancy are related to postpartum depression (PPD).
Design: The study uses data from the prospective mother-child cohort
‘Rhea’ study. Pregnant women completed an FFQ in mid-pregnancy and the
Edinburg Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) at 8-10 weeks postpartum.
Dietary patterns during pregnancy (’health conscious’, ‘Western’) were
identified using principal component analysis. Associations between
dietary patterns categorized in tertiles and PPD symptoms were
investigated by multivariable regression models after adjusting for
confounders.
Setting: Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 2007-2010.
Subjects: A total of 529 women, participating in the ‘Rhea’ cohort.
Results: High adherence to a ‘health conscious’ diet, characterized by
vegetables, fruit, pulses, nuts, dairy products, fish and olive oil, was
associated with lower EPDS scores (highest v. lowest tertile:
beta-coefficient = -1.75, P = 0.02). Women in the second (relative risk
(RR) = 0.52, 95% CI 0.30, 0.92) or third tertile (RR = 0.51, 95% CI
0.25, 1.05) of the ‘health conscious’ dietary pattern were about 50%
less likely to have high levels of PPD symptoms (EPDS >= 13) compared
with those in the lowest tertile.
Conclusions: This is the first prospective study showing that a healthy
diet during pregnancy is associated with reduced risk for PPD.
Additional longitudinal studies and trials are needed to confirm these
findings