What Is Postnatal Depression? Can Pediatric Chiropractic Help Postnatal Depression?
The November 2014 issue of the Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics published a study showing that women who have recently had a baby will be less likely to suffer from depression if their baby receives chiropractic care. In this study, the mothers did not receive care, only their infants.
According to the study authors, Postnatal Depression (PND) is defined as “…the first occurrence of psychiatric symptoms severe enough to require medical help occurring after child birth and before the return of menstruation.” They continue by noting that PND “…has the potential to be a destructive, damaging and even fatal condition.” They report that about 13% of women will experience this condition within the first 12 weeks after giving birth.
In this study, data was collected from mothers of infants who received chiropractic care at an out-patient public chiropractic teaching clinic on the south coast of England. The data collected used a standardized test used to measure PND called the Edinburgh Depression Scale. The test was given to the mothers at the onset of their infants’ care and when the infants’ care ended.
The Edinburgh Depression Scale is a 10-item questionnaire with each question scoring between 0-3. A maximum score for this test would be 30. The higher the score, the more likely the mother is depressed and suffering from PND. Any score at or above 10 is considered possibly depressed, with certain questions being specifically geared toward looking mothers who could possibly harm themselves or others.
A total of 117 mothers participated in the study. Even thought their infants were the only ones that received chiropractic care, the improvements from their care resulted in the mothers showing significant improvement in their depression scores. The study showed that, on average, the mothers in this study scored an average of 7.3 on the Edinburgh Depression Scale. After the chiropractic care was rendered to their infants, that average score improved to 5.04, which is a significant improvement in their score.
In the conclusion and discussion sections of this study, the authors wrote, “This study into PND scores of mothers whose infants underwent chiropractic care showed statistically significant reduction in scores when concluding a course of chiropractic treatment.” They explain, “It is reasonable to think that mothers would feel better when their baby is better. The EPDS is considered a good surrogate measure for anxiety in mothers and therefore, should be used as a continuum and any lowering of scores is a benefit.”
To understand more of how chiropractic helps neurologically with child development, please read this informative health research report entitled Strengthening Your Child’s Immune System.
If you know of a mother or a child that could benefit from seeing a chiropractor, please call 512-452-2525 to schedule a consultation with Dr. Swanson.