Post-Partum Depression More Common After Boys Born

Reported February 14, 2008

A new study says giving birth to a boy is more likely to lower a woman's quality of life and raises her risk of post-partum depression.

A team from Univesite Nancy 2 in France found one-third of women had PPD four to eight weeks after giving birth. Three-quarters of those with depression had given birth to a boy.

Even those who were not clinically depressed felt that their quality of life had fallen more if they had a boy, lead author Professor Claude Tychey said. Lower quality-of-life scores were seen in 70 percent of the women with new sons.
 

"We also discovered that being a first-time mother had no effect on quality of life scores. Women had the same general scores regardless of whether the recent birth was their first or second baby," Tychey said.

"Previous studies have shown that women who live in cultures where greater value is placed on sons are more likely to suffer from (depression) if they give birth to a girl. However, we believe that this study -- carried out in a French community where women didn't face cultural pressures over the sex of their baby -- is the first to show that women who give birth to boys are more likely to suffer from severe (depression) and reduced quality of life," he said.