Winter mothers should spend more time in sunlight to beat the baby blues

Women who give birth in the winter months are at greater risk of postnatal depression and should be advised to increase their exposure to natural daylight, a study suggests.

Researchers in the United States found that more than one third of mothers-to-be whose final trimester fell between August and November suffered depression, compared with around a quarter of women who had summer babies.

Although reduced exposure to natural light is associated with depression, it was unclear whether it also triggered postnatal depression, or made symptoms worse. “Among first-time mothers, the length of day in the third trimester, specifically day lengths that are shortening compared to day lengths that are short, long or lengthening, were associated with concurrent depressive symptom severity,” said Dr Deepika Goyal, of San Jose State University.

Overall, 30 per cent of the women suffered depression, but that fell to 26 per cent for those whose final trimester coincided with longer daylight hours and rose to 35 per cent for those with winter births.

The research suggests that women at risk of depression should aim to get outdoors more in winter months and try light therapy to ease symptoms.

The research was published in the Journal of Behavioural Medicine.