Postpartum Thyroid Dysfunction and Depression in an Unselected Population

To the Editor: Thyroid dysfunction is often accompanied by mood disturbances. 1 Postpartum thyroid dysfunction and postpartum depression occur frequently; the peak incidence of both conditions occurs two to five months post partum. 2 3 4 We examined whether thyroid dysfunction is related to depression in the postpartum period. Among 382 pregnant white women, 303 agreed to participate in a prospective study of postpartum thyroid disease and depression. Ten women were excluded from the analysis because of biochemical thyroid dysfunction during gestation (n = 2), because of another pregnancy during the study (n = 4), or for personal reasons (n = 4), but women . . .