(Iowa News Service) – Iowa doctors are assessing how a new medication is working for moms with postpartum depression. That’s timely right now, as more babies are born in the fall than any other time of year. Researchers say roughly one in five new moms faces symptoms of postpartum depression – and of those, 20-percent experience symptoms so dire they report considering suicide or self harm. University of Iowa epidemiologist Nichole Nidey says postpartum depression is a problem statewide, but can be especially serious in rural Iowa, where access to mental health care can be limited.

Psychiatrists have started prescribing zuranolone – the first pill approved by the U-S Food and Drug Administration to treat postpartum depression. The F-D-A fast-tracked its approval after clinical trials proved highly successful. 

Psychiatrists say zuranolone can be effective within days, but UnitedHealthCare O-B/G-Y-N Dr. Donna O’Shea says it’s still important for new moms to know and understand the risk factors and symptoms of postpartum depression.

O’Shea says people from under-served communities are at higher risk than those who aren’t. Not all new moms experience postpartum depression, but for those who do, O’Shea says zuranolone is a vast improvement over previous treatments – including intravenous infusions that took as long as 60 hours.