Diabetes and Risk for Antenatal and Postpartum Depression

Previous studies have suggested an association between diabetes and depression in the general adult population. To determine whether this association also applies to pregnant women, researchers evaluated Medicaid data from 11,000 low-income pregnant women for perinatal diagnoses or treatment of depression, diabetes, or both.

Consistent with known risk profiles, older pregnant women and nonwhite (especially Latina) women were more likely to have diabetes before or during pregnancy. Analysis controlled for age, race, year of delivery, and preterm versus term delivery showed that women with any type of diabetes (gestational or nongestational, taking or not taking insulin) were nearly twice as likely to have depression during pregnancy or postpa…