Postpartum Exercise Cuts Odds of Postpartum Depression

THURSDAY, Nov. 7, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Odds of postpartum depression are reduced by 45 percent in individuals who engaged in postpartum exercise, according to a review published online Nov. 5 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Andy Deprato, from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to examine the influence of postpartum exercise on maternal depression and anxiety.

Based on 35 studies (4,072 individuals), the researchers found with moderate-certainty evidence that exercise-only interventions reduced the severity of postpartum depressive symptoms (19 randomized controlled trials [RCTs]; standardized mean differences [SMDs]: −0.52; I² = 86 percent; moderate effect size) and anxiety symptoms (two RCTs; SMD: −0.25; I² = 0 percent; small effect size) and the odds of postpartum depression (four RCTs; odds ratio, 0.55; I² = 0 percent) versus no exercise. Postpartum individuals needed to accumulate at least 350 MET-minutes/week of exercise (e.g., 80 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise such as brisk walking, water aerobics, stationary cycling, or resistance training) to achieve at least a moderate reduction in the severity of postpartum depressive symptoms.

“These data support the engagement in postpartum physical activity to prevent or improve depressive symptoms as a low-cost and acceptable intervention,” the authors write.

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