Abstract
Poor maternal mental health has been associated with a myriad of pregnancy and child health complications. Obesity in pregnancy is known to increase one’s risk of experiencing poor maternal mental health and associated physical and mental health complications. Probiotics may represent a novel approach to intervene in poor mental health and obesity. We conducted this pre-specified secondary analysis of the Healthy Mums and Babies (HUMBA) randomised controlled trial to investigate whether probiotics would improve maternal mental health outcomes up to 36 weeks of pregnancy. Two-hundred-and-thirty pregnant women with obesity (BMI ≥ 30.0 kg/m2) were recruited and randomised to receive probiotic (Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Bifidobacterium lactis BB12, minimum 6.5 × 109 CFU) or placebo capsules. Depression, anxiety, and functional health and well-being were assessed at baseline (120−176 weeks’ gestation) and 36 weeks of pregnancy. Depression scores remained stable and did not differ between the probiotic (M = 7.18, SD = 3.80) and placebo groups (M = 6.76, SD = 4.65) at 36 weeks (p-values > 0.05). Anxiety and physical well-being scores worsened over time irrespective of group allocation, and mental well-being scores did not differ between the two groups at 36 weeks. Probiotics did not improve mental health outcomes in this multi-ethnic cohort of pregnant women with obesity.
Highlights
Pregnancy with obesity represents an additional significant and prevalent health condition that can increase the risk of pregnancy complications and contribute to negative maternal and child outcomes that persist beyond the perinatal period[20,21,22]
To address this research gap and contribute to the growing body of literature on probiotics and mental health, the current study was conducted to investigate the influence of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Bifidobacterium lactis BB12 on depression, anxiety, and functional health and well-being, among a multi-ethnic sample of pregnant women with obesity residing in the Counties Manukau Health (CMH) region in South Auckland, New Zealand
A slight discrepancy in the number of participants with a history of depression allocated to each group was observed, with 21% of the placebo group and only 9% of the probiotic group having a history of depression
Summary
Pregnancy with obesity represents an additional significant and prevalent health condition that can increase the risk of pregnancy complications and contribute to negative maternal and child outcomes that persist beyond the perinatal period[20,21,22]. One study which has explored mental health outcomes in pregnant women with a history of asthma, eczema, or hayfever, demonstrated that those allocated to receive the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 during pregnancy, had significantly lower anxiety and depression scores in the postnatal period compared to those who received a placebo[34]. To address this research gap and contribute to the growing body of literature on probiotics and mental health, the current study was conducted to investigate the influence of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Bifidobacterium lactis BB12 on depression, anxiety, and functional health and well-being, among a multi-ethnic sample of pregnant women with obesity residing in the Counties Manukau Health (CMH) region in South Auckland, New Zealand. We hypothesised that women allocated to the probiotic intervention would demonstrate lower depression and anxiety scores and higher functional health and well-being scores in comparison to the those in the placebo group at 36 weeks of pregnancy
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
