Press Release: Women who could use mHealth consultation services during the perinatal period had a two-third lower risk of postpartum depression (Doctoral Student Arakawa)

Mr. Arakawa, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Tokyo (Special research student at Kyoto University), Prof. Kondo, and colleagues published the article investigating the effectiveness of mHealth consultation services for preventing postpartum depression.

This study included pregnant women living in Yokohama city. It revealed that women who were provided mHealth consultation services, in which women could consult about their concerns related to pregnancy and childcare with obstetrician-gynecologists, pediatricians, and midwives through their mobile phone during the pregnancy and postpartum periods, had a two-third lower risk of postpartum depression compared with women who were not provided them. This result indicates that removing physical and psychological access barriers to healthcare is critical to improving mental health for perinatal women.

This study was published in BMC Medicine, the flagship journal of the BMC series.

Press Release (For detailed information, please click here) * in Japanese

Article: Arakawa, Y, Haseda M, Inoue, K, et al. Effectiveness of mHealth consultation services for preventing postpartum depressive symptoms: a randomized clinical trial. BMC Medicine 21, 221 (2023).

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-023-02918-3