Postpartum depression and related perinatal mental health conditions are often considered the most common complication of pregnancy and childbirth.
With the approval of the first oral pill to help treat postpartum depression, providers are hopeful it could help address stigma and access issues in getting treatment for the disease.
Before the approval, the only other therapeutic treatment specifically for postpartum depression was an IV administered at select health care facilities for a few days.
“The problem with that brexanolone was there was a 60-hour IV infusion and (it) cost like $35,000,” Dr. Saira Kalia, director of the Arizona Perinatal Psychiatry Access Line said.
Kalia said she’s hopeful with how quickly zuranolone is supposed to help patients, and the shortened timeframe it’s taken in, will help more people let go of the stigma associated with postpartum depression.
“That rapid reduction of depressive symptoms as early as three days, that's huge. That'll help so much with just that stigma reduction. And like, 'I'm only on this for 14 days,' like an antibiotic course or something like that. So I think that’ll be helpful,” Kalia said.