Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2020 Jan 28;10(1):1291.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-58129-w.

Probiotics and Maternal Mental Health: A Randomised Controlled Trial among Pregnant Women with Obesity

Julia P Dawe  1 , Lesley M E McCowan  2 , Jess Wilson  2 , Karaponi A M Okesene-Gafa  2 , Anna S Serlachius  3
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Probiotics and Maternal Mental Health: A Randomised Controlled Trial among Pregnant Women with Obesity

Julia P Dawe et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Poor maternal mental health has been associated with a myriad of pregnancy and child health complications. Obesity in pregnancy is known to increase one's risk of experiencing poor maternal mental health and associated physical and mental health complications. Probiotics may represent a novel approach to intervene in poor mental health and obesity. We conducted this pre-specified secondary analysis of the Healthy Mums and Babies (HUMBA) randomised controlled trial to investigate whether probiotics would improve maternal mental health outcomes up to 36 weeks of pregnancy. Two-hundred-and-thirty pregnant women with obesity (BMI ≥ 30.0 kg/m2) were recruited and randomised to receive probiotic (Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Bifidobacterium lactis BB12, minimum 6.5 × 109 CFU) or placebo capsules. Depression, anxiety, and functional health and well-being were assessed at baseline (120-176 weeks' gestation) and 36 weeks of pregnancy. Depression scores remained stable and did not differ between the probiotic (M = 7.18, SD = 3.80) and placebo groups (M = 6.76, SD = 4.65) at 36 weeks (p-values > 0.05). Anxiety and physical well-being scores worsened over time irrespective of group allocation, and mental well-being scores did not differ between the two groups at 36 weeks. Probiotics did not improve mental health outcomes in this multi-ethnic cohort of pregnant women with obesity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
CONSORT diagram displaying flow of participant involvement in the study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Baskin R, Hill B, Jacka FN, O’Neil A, Skouteris H. The association between diet quality and mental health during the perinatal period. A systematic review. Appetite. 2015;91:41–47. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2015.03.017. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Biaggi A, Conroy S, Pawlby S, Pariante CM. Identifying the women at risk of antenatal anxiety and depression: A systematic review. J. Affect. Disord. 2016;191:62–77. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2015.11.014. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ding X-X, et al. Maternal anxiety during pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. J. Affect. Disord. 2014;159:103–110. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2014.02.027. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wardrop AA, Popadiuk NE. Women’s experiences with postpartum anxiety: Expectations, relationships, and sociocultural influences. Qual. Rep. 2013;18:1–24.
    1. Grigoriadis S, et al. The impact of maternal depression during pregnancy on perinatal outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J. Clin. Psychiatry. 2013;74:e321–e341. doi: 10.4088/JCP.12r07968. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types