The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug zuranolone for the treatment of postpartum depression, a serious mental illness that can occur in about 1 in 7 new mothers after giving birth. The drug will be sold under the brand name Zurzuvae and will be taken once a day for 14 days.
Until now, postpartum depression was treated only by intravenous injection.
According to the FDA, the drug can affect the ability to drive and operate machinery, so the agency recommends that patients not drive or operate heavy machinery for at least 12 hours after taking the drug.
The FDA said the most common side effects include drowsiness, dizziness, diarrhea, fatigue, nasopharyngitis (common cold), and urinary tract infection.
“Postpartum depression is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition in which women experience sadness, guilt, helplessness and, in severe cases, thoughts of harming themselves or their child. And because postpartum depression can disrupt the mother-infant bond, it can also affect the child’s physical and emotional development,” explains Tiffany Farcione, chief of the division of psychiatry at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
Clinical trials showed that the pill significantly helped reduce symptoms of depression over a period of three days. The drug’s effect lasted four weeks after the last dose, the FDA said.
