The Effect of Diet on Parents' Mental Health in the Postnatal Period

Summary

Postnatal depression (PND) is a type of depression that can occur in some parents after the birth of their baby. PND has been estimated to affect 1 in 10 new parents; mothers in particular are at an increased risk of developing PND in the first year after childbirth. Symptoms of PND include a persistent feeling of sadness or low mood, a lack of enjoyment and loss of interest in the wider world, lack of energy and feeling tired all the time, difficulty bonding with your baby, withdrawing from contact with other people and problems concentrating and making decisions. Research has shown that mothers with PND have more cognitive, behavioural and interpersonal issues, and lower mood, energy and concentration than mothers without PND. Current treatments for PND include self-help resources, support from local and national organisations, psychological therapy or antidepressants with varying success rates. Further research is required to investigate accessible, cost-effective preventions or treatments for new mothers who are at risk or have been diagnosed with PND. There is also a pressing need to investigate natural alternatives to medication, especially for breastfeeding mothers who do not want to expose their infants to pharmaceuticals through breast milk.

Flavonoids are naturally occurring compounds found in high levels in foods such as berry and citrus fruits, leafy green vegetables, tea, dark chocolate and red wine. Evidence suggests that consumption of high flavonoid foods can improve health and cognitive outcomes. Prior research investigating daily dietary flavonoid intervention in a postnatal population for 2 weeks indicated significantly higher physical quality of life and significantly lower state anxiety in mothers of infants under 1 year old, at the end of the intervention. These benefits were not observed in the control group. This data shows promise for the management of mood in a key period for mothers and their babies, where risk of PND is high.

The research aim of the current study will be to further these investigations to see whether implementation of a high flavonoid diet across a 2 week period positively affects maternal mental health, specifically mood, anxiety, depressive symptoms and perceived quality of life. The study will involve recruiting mothers of infants under 6 months old to take part in an online study investigating diet and mental health. Mothers will be assigned to either a high flavonoid diet or a control condition for 2 weeks. They will complete online questionnaires (Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Postpartum-Specific Anxiety Scale (PSAS), World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) at the start (day 0) and end (day 14) of the dietary intervention. In this study, a sub-sample of fathers will also be recruited to take part in the same study to assess if dietary or mood outcomes are similar or different in this population. This pilot data will inform future research of dietary interventions in new fathers.

The study does not pose ethical issues. Participants will be asked to complete non-invasive questionnaires about their mood and quality of life. For those in the high flavonoid group the change to diet will not be extreme; this group will be encouraged to include 2 items from a list of high flavonoid foods in their daily food consumption. All participants will be provided with helplines and web links upon debrief should they wish to seek further support. The helplines provided will be Samaritans UK and PANDAs Foundation. Web links to NHS, MIND and the Association for Postnatal Illness will also be listed.

Conditions

• Mood
• Healthy
• Mothers
• Fathers
• Parents

Interventions

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Flavonoid-rich diet

Inclusion of foods rich in flavonoids.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Reading

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-06-28

Primary Completion

2022-02-23

Completion

2022-02-23

Countries

• United Kingdom

Study Locations