In April 2020 I successfully defended my thesis research titled “Global Osteopathic Treatment on Postpartum Depression Symptomatology” and was awarded the William Garner Sutherland award for the advancement of Osteopathy in the field of clinical research. I am with deep gratitude to all the women who were interested and participated in this study. It is my hope that future Osteopathic research is conducted on this topic to both support women struggling postpartum as well as help to strengthen the science of Osteopathy.

ABSTRACT

Postpartum Depression (PPD) is a psychiatric disorder that occurs in 15% of pregnancies, yet its physiological (Avraham et al., 2017) and psychological manifestations remain undefined despite the extensive research. It is a condition that if left misdiagnosed and untreated could lead to serious complications resulting in either infant or maternal death.

OBJECTIVE: The researcher of this study conducted a quantitative clinical trial that took place in Regina, Saskatchewan exploring the effects of global osteopathic treatment on postpartum depressive symptoms.

METHODS: The study was conducted over an 8 week period on women aged 18-40 years of age. Participants of the study were required to meet the strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, outlined in the methodology of this paper to determine eligibility. Measurement of symptoms were taken from both the experimental and control group at set time points of 0, 2, 4, and 8 weeks and measured against each other using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS).

RESULTS: 14 participants completed the study and despite the small sample size obtained, the statistical requirements of power analysis were met with 80% power. The experimental group showed that the average scores using the EPDS decreased 48.1% (11.57 to 6) from baseline to 8 weeks; while the control group remained almost the same and only decreased symptoms by 1.2% (12.29 to 12.14) from baseline to 8 weeks. By using the EPDS the researcher concluded that the experimental group that entered the study with scores between ‘Fairly High Possibility of Depression’ and ‘Depression Possible’ category, completed the study in ‘Depression Unlikely’ category while the control group maintained their status in the ‘Fairly High Possibility of Depression’ category. There was a statistically significant difference in mean total scores between the control group and experimental group at 2 weeks (p-value = 0.023) and 8 weeks (p-value = 0.025) using the unadjusted p-values.

CONCLUSION: The findings in this study suggest that global osteopathic treatment can reduce symptoms of PPD as measured by the EPDS. Further osteopathic studies are required to determine the credibility of the effects osteopathy on maternal mental health disorders.