New model helps predict women's postnatal depression

Early diagnosis of depression, especially for mothers who have just had babies, can often save pain, suffering, and family disruption. Now Spanish researchers have developed a model to diagnose postnatal depression, claiming the new method can predict 80% of the cases - the best result to date for this particular disorder, according to the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology. Early diagnosis would allow professional intervention to prevent postnatal depression from developing among women at risk, said Salvador Tortajada, lead author of the study and a researcher at the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), tells SINC. The researchers identified a set of risk factors including: the extent of social support for the mother, prior psychiatric problems in the family, emotional changes during the birth, neuroticism and polymorphisms in the serotonin transport gene. These are genes with high levels of expression, which can lead to an increased risk of developing the illness.