• Monique Robinson, Andrew J O Whitehouse, John P Newnham, Shelley Gorman, Peter Jacoby, Barbara J Holt, Michael Serralha, Jessica E Tearne, Pat G Holt, Prue H Hart, and Merci M H Kusel.
• Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, PO Box 855, West Perth, Perth, WA, 6872, Australia, moniquer@ichr.uwa.edu.au.
• Arch Womens Ment Health. 2014 Jun 1; 17 (3): 213-9.

AbstractPregnancy is a time of vulnerability for vitamin D insufficiency, and there is an emerging literature associating low levels of 25(OH)-vitamin D with depressive symptoms. However, the link between 25(OH)-vitamin D status in pregnancy and altered risk of postnatal depressive symptoms has not been examined. We hypothesise that low levels of 25(OH)-vitamin D in maternal serum during pregnancy will be associated with a higher incidence of postpartum depressive symptoms. We prospectively collected sera at 18 weeks gestation from 796 pregnant women in Perth (1989-1992) who were enrolled in the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study and measured levels of 25(OH)-vitamin D. Women reported postnatal depressive symptoms at 3 days post-delivery. Women in the lowest quartile for 25(OH)-vitamin D status were more likely to report a higher level of postnatal depression symptoms than women who were in the highest quartile for vitamin D, even after accounting for a range of confounding variables including season of birth, body mass index and sociodemographic factors. Low vitamin D during pregnancy is a risk factor for the development of postpartum depression symptoms.

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