Gestational diabetes may predispose to postpartum depression symptoms

Mothers diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have an elevated risk of developing postpartum depression symptoms, according to a new Finnish study. Gestational diabetes mellitus refers to impaired glucose metabolism during pregnancy. Often, mothers with GDM have too high blood glucose levels, and this increases the risk of various adverse effects on the fetus. Moreover, GDM increases the mother’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. Postpartum depression symptoms are experienced by 10–15 per cent of mothers after childbirth. The newly published study used the