the effect of chamomile on moderate postpartum depression: a randomized controlled trial in dezful, iran

Background: postpartum depression (ppd) is a disorder that can negatively affect both maternal and neonatal health. objectives: this study aimed to evaluate the effect of chamomile on ppd. methods: this randomized controlled trial was conducted on 144 women with ppd. the women were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n = 72) that received chamomile capsules (500 mg twice a day) and a placebo group that received a placebo for eight weeks. a demographic questionnaire and beck's depression inventory were used to collect the data. the chi-square test, independent t-test, mann-whitney u test, and wilcoxon test were used to analyze the data. results: a total of 128 women completed the study. the mean depression score in the intervention group decreased from 21.66 ± 4.01 at baseline to 18 ± 3.66 after the intervention. in the control group, the depression scores reduced from 22.36 ± 3.83 to 20.09 ± 3.77. the reduction in depression scores was statistically significant in the intervention group compared to the control group (p = 0.002). before the intervention, 41 (65.1%) women in the intervention group and 50 (76.9%) in the control group had moderate depression. after the intervention, however, 7 (11.1%) women in the intervention group were without depression, and 60.3% had mild depression, while the reduction in the control group was negligible (p = 0.002). conclusions: chamomile capsules (500 mg) taken twice a day for eight weeks significantly reduced the score and frequency of mild and moderate ppd. however, due to the lack of laboratory evaluation, the results of this study should be interpreted with caution. further studies are needed to confirm these findings.