The relationship of nutritional regime with postpartum depression in women

This study was performed to determine the relationship and share of each nutritional factor with postpartum depression.
According to the World Health Organization, depression will be the second most prevalent problem after ischemic heart diseases by the year 2020. Postpartum depression as a major depressive episode has devastating impacts on the health of the mother. This cross-sectional study was performed on 95 women aged 18 years or higher in health centers in Tabriz, Iran, 8 weeks after delivery. Eligible subjects were entered into the study using the convenience sampling method. Inclusion criteria were: women aged 18 years or higher; living in Tabriz; basic literacy level (reading and writing); recent low-risk pregnancy; willingness to participate in the study; and having records in the health care center nearest to the place of residence. Demographic, Edinburg and 24 hr nutritional recode questionnaires were completed by participants. The data was analyzed using neural networks.
Mean of depression score was 7.1 (SD 4.4). 83 women (87.4%) had Edinburg scores lower than 12. Based on findings from neural networks, Omega 3 (25%), Cholesterol (32%), Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid (PUFA) (36%), and Omega 6 (42%) had smaller shares in increasing of Edinburg scores, in comparison with Zinc (61%), Magnesium (78%), and Saturated fatty acid (90%).
Since Omega 3, Cholesterol, Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, and Omega 6 intake factors have the smallest shares in increasing postpartum depression, hence protect against increasing the Edinburg score, they can be recommended in nutritional regimes