A startup company in San Diego is preparing to launch a new blood test that can predict a pregnant woman's risk of developing postpartum depression with over 80 percent accuracy.
The test, called myLuma, will be the first commercial test to use biomarkers to predict a mental health condition, similar to how blood tests detect diseases like cancer or diabetes. Knowing their risk early could help expectant mothers take preventive steps, such as starting medication after birth or arranging extra emotional and practical support.
The test was developed by Dionysus Health, co-founded by Jennifer Payne, a reproductive psychiatrist at the University of Virginia, who helped lead the research behind it.
Payne began studying postpartum depression during her time at the National Institute of Mental Health, trying to understand why some women are more affected by hormonal changes after childbirth than others. She later collaborated with Zachary Kaminsky, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University who studies how hormones like estrogen can change the way certain genes function in the brain.
Their studies found that specific chemical patterns in genes could be linked to postpartum depression risk. Further research showed that certain brain-related hormones, like allopregnanolone and pregnanolone, which help calm the brain during pregnancy, drop sharply after childbirth, sometimes triggering depression. Meanwhile, another compound, isoallopregnanolone, can block these calming effects, increasing stress.
Experts say that the myLuma blood test could mark a turning point in maternal mental health, helping doctors identify and support at-risk mothers before symptoms begin.
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