Treatment of postnatal depression with cognitive behavioural therapy, sertraline and combination therapy: A randomised controlled trial

Abstract

In this sample, a specialised CBT program for postnatal depression was found to be superior as a mono-therapy compared to sertraline, a commonly prescribed SSRI antidepressant. This is in contrast to previous studies which have found no detectable difference in the efficacies of drug and psychological treatment for postnatal depression. Unlike some previous work, this study allowed a statistically independent evaluation of CBT mono-therapy for postnatal depression compared to both antidepressant and combination therapy. In line with previous studies in postpartum women, there was no detectable advantage of combining pharmacological and psychological treatments in the short term.