Lisette Lopez-Rose She thought happiness would come after giving birth. Instead, panic attacks arrived. A heaviness on her chest that wouldn't go away, the fear that something bad would happen to the baby. For months, she kept it all inside, terrified that someone would take her son away from her. Then, six months later, she found the courage to talk to her doctor. Two months of medication, and finally, the light at the end of the tunnel. Her story is no exception: one in eight women crosses the postpartum depression, the most common complication of childbirth. But today something is changing.
A simple blood test during pregnancy can predict who will develop this condition with over 80% accuracy. There's no need to wait for symptoms to appear.
Two molecules that tell the future
The Italian neuroscientist Graziano Pinna ofUniversity of Illinois at Chicago studied 136 women during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. Thirty-three of them developed depressive symptoms after giving birth. The study published in Neuropsychopharmacology identified a clear pattern in the blood of at-risk mothers-to-be.
Two neuroactive steroids derived from progesterone make the difference: the pregnanolone andisoallopregnanoloneThe first acts on the GABA-A receptor to calm the brain and reduce stress. The second blocks this protective effect and increases depressive symptoms. Women who developed Postpartum depression showed a lower pregnanolone/progesterone ratio and a higher isoallopregnanolone/pregnanolone ratio during the third trimester Compared to the others. A standard blood test, nothing invasive. But the predictive power exceeds 80%.
Postpartum depression: why some women get it and others don't
After giving birth, estrogen and progesterone levels suddenly drop. This hormonal decline triggers postpartum depression in some women but not in others. The question that has guided Pinna's research for 25 years has been precisely this: Why does the same hormonal change affect us so differently?
The answer lies in individual sensitivity to the hormonal crash. As Pinna himself explains:
“The discovery of these biomarkers represents a step forward in understanding not only the biological basis of postpartum depression, but above all in developing prevention methods and new therapeutic strategies.”
The test doesn't just identify those at risk. It opens the door to preventative interventions. Women identified as vulnerable could begin specific treatments immediately after giving birth, or even before symptoms appear.
Postpartum depression affects 10-15% of women giving birth in the Western world. In some cases, it can become severe and pose a risk to both mother and baby.
The first specific drug arrives in Europe
The ability to predict who will develop postpartum depression comes with another breakthrough: the first specific drug for this conditionIn September 2025, the European Commission authorized the zuranolone (trade name Zurzuvae), developed by Biogen and Sage Therapeutics.
It is a neurosteroid that acts as a positive modulator of GABA-A receptors. Unlike traditional antidepressants that take weeks to work, zuranolone shows significant improvements already from the third day of administrationThe therapy lasts only 14 days: one tablet per day, taken in the evening. The benefits last until day 45.
Before zuranolone there was the brexanolone, approved by the US FDA in 2019. But it required a continuous intravenous infusion for 60 hours in the hospital, which was prohibitively expensive ($34.000 per treatment) and carried the risk of sudden loss of consciousness. Zuranolone solved these problems: it can be taken at home, it costs less, and no patients in clinical trials lost consciousness.
Beyond the tests: the research continues
Pinna's biomarker-based test isn't the only approach in development. Another line of research focuses on the methylation of two genes: TTC9B e HP1BP3These genes are sensitive to estrogen and also appear to be involved in other forms of depression related to hormonal changes, such as premenstrual syndrome and perimenopausal depression.
The test based on genetic methylation, which will be marketed under the name myLuma, achieves an accuracy of over 85%. It will be available in the United States (Florida, Texas, and California) starting in January 2026. It does not yet require FDA approval because it falls under the category of diagnostic tests that doctors can use for clinical decisions.
Postpartum Depression: Why It Changes Everything
Lauren M. Osborne, co-author of the study and reproductive psychiatrist at Weill Cornell Medicine, summarizes the impact of the discovery: "If we can replicate these results in a larger and more diverse sample, this could become a standard clinical test for predicting disease development." Women identified as high-risk could be given zuranolone preventively, although this application has yet to be tested.
As we have reported in the pastDepression is a complex disorder that requires multiple approaches. But having predictive tools and specific medications represents a paradigm shift. It's no longer necessary to wait for a woman to collapse before intervening. The blood test brings psychiatry to the level of biology: a medical condition with measurable biomarkers, not "something that's just in the head."
Lisette Lopez-Rose works for today Postpartum Support International, coordinating online support groups for other mothers. Her daughter is four years old, and they're both doing well. But a blood test, she says, would have saved her months of silent suffering.
Instead of feeling alone and terrified, she would have known what to expect. She would have had a name for what she was experiencing. And most importantly, she would have known it wasn't her fault.
