Effect of Exercise Program on Symptoms of Postpartum Depression

Introduction: Mood disorders such as depression were the most common psychological disorders in postpartum period and high prevalence of depression has been reported in postpartum period. Postpartum depression endangers mother’s health and has negative effect on infant development and its treatment is very important. So the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of exercise program on postpartum depression.
Methods: This double blind randomized clinical trial study was conducted on 40 nulliparous women who depressed in 6-8 weeks after childbirth. Cases were divided into two groups (20 women in experimental group and 20 women in control group) based on motivation levels to exercise program. Exercise program was performed for 45 minutes, 3 sessions per week for 12 weeks. Postpartum depression was assessed using Edinburgh scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 17, paired and independent t-tests. P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: Significant deference was showed between two group in depression postpartum after exercise program (p=0.01) and women in the exercise group showed significantly more reduction in postpartum depression (p=0.02).
Conclusions: Exercise as a good therapeutic intervention, non-invasive and with fewer side effects than drug treatment can use as one of the effective interventions beside antidepressant and psychotherapy.