can halve the risk of baby blues, major research suggests. Scientists examined 35 studies involving more than 4,000 women from different countries. The research found exercising for just over an hour a week was enough to cut the risk of depression and anxiety significantly.
Overall, the odds of were reduced by 45 per cent among those who engaged in compared with those who did not. More than one in 10 new mothers suffer from postnatal depression, estimates suggest. Experts said new mothers should balance the benefits of exercise with recovery from .
They could restart exercise with “gentle” walks, which they can do with their babies, and then increase to “moderate” activity when they are ready, they added. This moderate physical activity could include brisk walking, water aerobics, stationary cycling or , according to a team of academics in Canada. Researchers pooled data from available evidence on the impact of exercise after childbirth.
Their new study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, examined 35 studies involving more than 4,000 women from 14 different countries. The odds of postpartum depression were reduced by 45 per cent among those who engaged in exercise compared with those who did not. Exercise was also associated with less severe symptoms of depression and anxiety after giving birth.
Starting exercise before 12 weeks after birth was linked to a greater reduction in depressive symptoms than starting it later. And the greater the volume of .
