During pregnancy, continuous supplementation of folic acid might decrease the occurrence of perinatal depression.

A meta-analysis sought to investigate the association between folic acid and the risk of perinatal depression.

The study was carried out utilizing current folic acid supplementation behavior during pregnancy and levels of folic acid in blood as exposures. The mean Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) scores and occurrence of perinatal depressive symptoms were the endpoints ascertained.

A total of 15 studies were recognized that incorporated 26,275 females from 11 observational studies and 4 randomized controlled trials. Regarding the major endpoint of folic acid use and perinatal depression risk, the overall odds ratio (OR) was 0.742. For studies in which an odds ratio could be extracted, the combined effect value was noted to be 0.84.

A negative link was noted between depressive symptoms and blood folate levels (standardized mean difference = -0.127). No relationship was witnessed between EPDS score and folic acid intervention. Continuous folic acid use during pregnancy might help to minimize the occurrence of perinatal depression.

Supplementing folic acid during pregnancy is a simple and cost-effective measure to minimize the risk of perinatal depressive symptoms.