Recent research has revealed a surprising link between inflammation and depression. Although inflammation was first identified as a risk factor for postpartum depression in the late 1990s, researchers have recently learned that it underlies all the other risk factors. All other known causes of depression, such as pain, psychological trauma, lack of social support, or sleep problems, trigger the inflammatory response.
This research tells us why women are vulnerable to depression in the last trimester of pregnancy and postpartum. It also explains the link between depression in pregnancy and preterm birth, and why breastfeeding protects maternal mood because it down-regulates the stress and inflammatory response.
- Lecturer:
- Dr Kathleen Kendall-Tackett
- CERPs:
- 1 L CERP / 1 Pre-IBLCE exam hour
- Access period:
- One week
- Lecture recorded for Health e-Learning
Dr. Kendall-Tackett is a health psychologist and International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant, and the Director of Praeclarus Press, a small press specializing in women's health. For the past 10 years, Dr. Kendall-Tackett has been Editor-in-Chief of Psychological Trauma. She is Fellow of the American Psychological Association in Health and Trauma Psychology and Past President of the APA Division of Trauma Psychology. Dr. Kendall-Tackett specializes in women's-health research including breastfeeding, depression, trauma, and health psychology, and has won many awards for her work including the 2019 President’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Trauma Psychology from the American Psychological Association, and is a member of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Honor Society.
Dr. Kendall-Tackett has authored more than 500 articles or chapters and is the author or editor of 42 books. Her most recent books include Breastfeeding Doesn’t Need to Suck (2022, American Psychological Association), Women’s Mental Health Across the Lifespan (2017, Routledge US, with Lesia Ruglass), The Phantom of the Opera: A Social History of the World’s Most Popular Musical (2018, Praeclarus), and most recently, Depression in New Mothers, 4th Edition, Vols. I & II (2023, 2024, Routledge, UK).