Going on the pill soon after childbirth linked to higher risk of postpartum depression

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-04-01 02:00

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Women who start taking a hormonal contraceptive pill soon after childbirth are at a higher risk of developing depression in the first year of their child's life, according to international research. The team followed the contraceptive choices of over 600,000 women in Denmark after having their first child, with 40% of the women beginning to take the pill within a year of their child's birth. The researchers say as soon as the women were taking the pill, they were at nearly 1.5 times the risk of depression compared to women not taking the pill, and the earlier the women initiated birth control the higher their risk was. While only 1.5% of all the participants developed depression during the study, the researchers say their findings raise questions about the role birth control could play in post-partum depression rates.

Media release

From: JAMA

About The Study: Hormonal contraceptive initiation postpartum was associated with an instantaneous increased risk of developing depression in this cohort study. The associated risk was higher the earlier it was initiated postpartum, at least for combined oral contraceptives. This finding raises the issue of whether the incidence of depression postpartum is increased by routine hormonal contraceptive initiation after childbirth.

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Research JAMA, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends

Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Copenhagen University Hospital–Rigshospitalet, Denmark

Funder: The study was funded by The Independent Research Fund Denmark (grants 0134-00278B and 7025-00111B).

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