Vitamin D status during pregnancy and the risk of subsequent postpartum depression: a case-control study

• Published in: PloS one 2013-11, Vol.8 (11), p.e80686-e80686
• Main Authors: Nielsen, Nina O, Strøm, Marin, Boyd, Heather A, Andersen, Elisabeth W, Wohlfahrt, Jan, Lundqvist, Marika, Cohen, Arieh, Hougaard, David M, Melbye, Mads
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Biochemistry; Brain; Cancer; Case studies; Case-Control Studies; Depression, Postpartum - etiology; Emotional disorders; Epidemiology; Exercise; Female; Humans; Immunology; Mental depression; Mood; Mortality; Odds Ratio; Postpartum; Postpartum depression; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications; Public health; Risk; Risk Factors; Studies; Systematic review; Vitamin D; Vitamin D - blood; Vitamin D Deficiency - complications; Vitamin deficiency; Womens health; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0080686

Epidemiological studies have provided evidence of an association between vitamin D insufficiency and depression and other mood disorders, and a role for vitamin D in various brain functions has been suggested. We hypothesized that low vitamin D status during pregnancy might increase the risk of postpartum depression (PPD). The objective of the study was thus to determine whether low vitamin D status during pregnancy was associated with postpartum depression. In a case-control study nested in the Danish National Birth Cohort, we measured late pregnancy serum concentrations of 25[OH]D3 in 605 women with PPD and 875 controls. Odds ratios [OR) for PPD were calculated for six levels of 25[OH]D3. Overall, we found no association between vitamin D concentrations and risk of PPD (p = 0.08). Compared with women with vitamin D concentrations between 50 and 79 nmol/L, the adjusted odds ratios for PPD were 1.35 (95% CI: 0.64; 2.85), 0.83 (CI: 0.50; 1.39) and 1.13 (CI: 0.84; 1.51) among women with vitamin D concentrations < 15 nmol/L, 15-24 nmol/L and 25-49 nmol/L, respectively, and 1.53 (CI: 1.04; 2.26) and 1.89 (CI: 1.06; 3.37) among women with vitamin D concentrations of 80-99 nmol/L and ≥ 100 nmol/L, respectively. In an additional analysis among women with sufficient vitamin D (≥ 50 nmol/L), we observed a significant positive association between vitamin D concentrations and PPD. Our results did not support an association between low maternal vitamin D concentrations during pregnancy and risk of PPD. Instead, an increased risk of PPD was found among women with the highest vitamin D concentrations.