Funding outcome

Mental health disorders (ie. depression, anxiety, psychosis, posttraumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorders) that affect pregnant women can have long-lasting negative effects on both the mother and child. The risk of a woman developing depression after pregnancy is 13% in high income countries and 20% in low-moderate income countries, the risk of psychosis is 1-2 per 1000 births, and the risk of anxiety is 10%. Research has shown that nutrition and microorganisms living in the human gut have a role in the development of many mental health disorders. There is an interest in changing the gut microorganism composition using prebiotics, probiotics and their combination (synbiotics) to reduce the risk of developing mental health disorders. Research has shown that probiotic supplementation is associated with reduced depressive symptoms in the general population. However, the ability of prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics, taken during pregnancy, to reduce the risk of developing maternal health disorders in the perinatal period (during pregnancy and after childbirth) is unclear. The objective of this summer project is to review and evaluate the evidence on the use of prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics by pregnant women to reduce the risk of developing maternal mental health disorders in the perinatal period, compared to using nothing. To research, two independent reviewers will search electronic databases for articles and research studies that evaluate the objective. Then, one reviewer will gather data on study characteristics, population, interventions, and outcomes. The second reviewer will verify the data and summarize it. Both reviewers will assess bias in the individual studies. The data from the different studies will be pooled together and the results will be summarized. This review will combine the current knowledge on the effectiveness of prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics in reducing maternal mental health risks, and identify the gaps in knowledge that can be addressed by future research studies.