Bright Light Therapy in Pregnant Women With Major Depressive Disorder: a Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-Controlled Study

Depression during pregnancy is a common and high impact disease.Children who are exposed to maternal depression during pregnancy have a higher risk of adverse birth outcomes, such as low birth weight, and more often show cognitive, emotional and behavioral problems.Therefore, early detection and prompt treatment of depression during pregnancy can benefit both mother and child.However, the window of opportunity in pregnancy is small and from the perspective of the child postponement is in fact non-treatment. Psychotherapy might take a long time to be effective and do not work for all people. Further, the safety of pharmacological treatment for pregnant women with depression is still a big concern .Psychiatric medication use for depression in pregnancy may also pose a risk of fetal growth retardation and preterm delivery, as well as withdrawal symptoms in the new born. Therefore, investigating non-pharmacological approaches to treating depression during pregnancy is urgent and relevant, for both mother and child. Preliminary evidence shows that bright light therapy (BLT) is an effective treatment for pregnant women with depression based on several theoretical and clinical considerations, with effect size around 0.45 and without adverse effects to the new born. In this study we aim to investigate the effectiveness of BLT on pregnant women with major depression.