Moderate exercise might reduce postpartum depression

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-11-30 06:00

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Exercise that gets your heart pumping might reduce postpartum depression, according to international researchers. The team analysed 26 studies representing 2,867 participants and found aerobic exercise, or cardio, is effective in preventing and treating postpartum depression compared to standard care, especially for prevention. The team found the best prescribed exercise involved three to four moderate intensity cardio sessions, 35-45 minutes per week. Future research could look further into what suits individual needs, such as whether solo exercise, supervised exercise or working out with a friend works better, they add.

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Journal/
conference: PLOS ONE

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), China

Funder: This work was financially supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities in China (Grant no. CUG150607). The funders did not play a role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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