FDA approves first postpartum depression pill

The pill helped to significantly reduce depressive symptoms within three days. [iStockphoto]

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the medication zuranolone for the treatment of postpartum depression - making it the first FDA-approved oral pill in the United States specifically for postpartum depression, a serious mental illness that can develop in about 1 in 7 new mothers after childbirth.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said zuranolone, sold under the brand name Zurzuvae, has been approved as a once-daily pill taken for two weeks.