A new study has found a connection between brain changes during pregnancy and postpartum depression. Published in Science Advances, the study examined how structural changes in two key brain regions—the amygdala and the hippocampus—correlate with postpartum depression symptoms. Researchers observed that women who developed moderate to severe postpartum depression exhibited an increase in the volume of these brain areas, which play a critical role in regulating emotions and stress responses.

"Each minute, about 300 women give birth, leading to approximately 140 million births every year. At the physiological level, the transition to motherhood involves a profound transformation of women’s entire bodies, including their brains," it said while adding that " each birth experience varies from mother to mother and birth to birth."

It said that for some women, childbirth is perceived as "a positive experience—feeling intense joy, pride, and accomplishment," however for others it can be "traumatic.".

"A distressing and complicated birth experience can lead to symptoms of post-traumatic stress or postpartum depression. Estimates suggest that between 7 and 44% of mothers describe their childbirth as traumatic, 10% develop childbirth-related post-traumatic stress disorder, and 17% experience postpartum depression," it said.

The study said that "major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder have been linked to structural alterations in the hippocampus and amygdala," and it wanted to study if these structures went through changes before, during or after pregnancy , and "whether these volumetric changes are linked to childbirth experience and peripartum depression symptoms."

Tracking Brain Changes During Pregnancy

The research team studied 88 first-time pregnant women with no history of depression and compared them to a group of 30 non-pregnant women. They scanned the participants' brains during their third trimester of pregnancy and again about a month after childbirth.

The results showed that women who developed postpartum depression had an increase in the size of their amygdala after childbirth, the part of the brain that helps process emotions and stress. Additionally, women who found childbirth stressful had a larger hippocampus, a brain region involved in memory and emotional control, when comparing pregnancy and postpartum brain images.

"We found that the larger the increase in the right amygdala volume, the greater the increase in symptoms of perinatal depression and that the worse the birth experience, the larger the bilateral volume increase in the hippocampus," according to the study.

"It’s possible that women whose amygdala changes more easily are at higher risk of postpartum depression," explained Susana Carmona, a neuroscientist at the Gregorio Marañón Health Research Institute in Madrid and the study’s lead author. "But it could also be that the depression itself causes the amygdala to grow," she added.

The Effect of Childbirth Experience

The study also revealed that a woman's perception of her childbirth experience influences changes in her brain. Even if the delivery was medically smooth, women who found it stressful or had a negative experience showed greater changes in their brain structure.

“A negative birth experience has been associated with increases in depression scores,” Carmona added, emphasizing the need for improved maternal care and emotional support during childbirth.

With postpartum depression often going undiagnosed due to stigma and reluctance to seek help, these findings underline the importance of early detection and intervention.

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