Researchers At UNC-Chapel Hill See Treatment For Postpartum Depression

For women struggling with debilitating depression following childbirth, help may soon be on the way. The first drug created specifically for postpartum depression was developed through research done right here in North Carolina.

Perinatal mood disorder affects nearly 1 in 8 women, potentially harming the maternal-infant bond, and later infant development. Severe cases have led to suicide.

Women with moderate to severe symptoms are commonly prescribed antidepressants that can take four to six weeks to begin working. Samantha Meltzer-Brody is a lead researcher and director of the UNC Perinatal Psychiatry Program. She says the new medication called brexanolone is different.

"The really exciting thing that we've observed with this new drug is the very, very fast onset of action," she says. "So, women start having response within 24 hours. And that treatment response was maintained through the 30 day follow up period in the clinical trials."

Although the onset of action is greatly reduced with brexanolone, the treatment is more involved than taking conventional antidepressants. The new drug is applied intravenously over a period of 60 hours, and it also requires some medical supervision. 

Meltzer-Brody cautions that so many women suffer from postpartum depression that they are not adequately screened or treated. 

"We really want to encourage any woman who is suffering to reach out to their doctor, not feel any shame or stigma around what is one of the most common medical complications, and make sure she is able to get appropriate treatment which will lead to the best outcomes for the patient, her baby and family," she says.  

On Friday, Meltzer-Brody will speak about her findings at an FDA advisory committee meeting. The new treatment could be approved for patients before Christmas, and made available by mid-2019.