How a workout can banish the baby blues

EXERCISE could be key to beating postnatal depression, a study has found.

Researchers said that it should be considered as an alternative to therapy or anti-depressants for women who have recently given birth and are showing depressive symptoms.

The Birmingham University study, published in the British Journal of General Practice, looked at 13 trials including 1,734 women.

They found that exercise - either in group sessions, individually or when added to other treatment – reduced postnatal depressive symptoms.

The authors wrote: ‘Given the high prevalence of postpartum depression and the potential for exercise to be a low-cost, freely available intervention, aerobic exercise should be considered as a management option for postpartum women with depressive symptoms and as a potential preventative measure more generally in postpartum women.’

A separate study in the same journal found some women did not seek help for postnatal depression because of stigma. Authors said women felt pressure to be ‘good mothers’ and ‘failure’ had a negative impact on mental health.