157: Associations of postpartum depression symptoms and infant feeding with Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity

Both oxytocin and depression have been shown to blunt the HPA axis response to stressors. We aimed to determine whether postpartum depression symptoms, infant feeding, and their interaction are associated with HPA axis dysregulation, indexed by loss of expected associations in adrenocorticotropic (ACTH)-cortisol (CRT) coupling. Women intending to breastfeed were recruited in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy, oversampling for past or current...