FDA Approved Drug Aims To Treat New Moms Suffering From Postpartum Depression

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Stephanie and Adam Hathaway had just moved to China when they became parents for the first time.

Shortly after daughter Hadley was born however, Stephanie started sliding into depression.

"I had intrusive thoughts… your husband deserves a better wife… your children deserve a better mom," Stephanie Hathaway said.

Symptoms of postpartum depression can include sadness, anxiety, irritability, loss of appetite, self-harm (including suicide), and loss of interest in the new baby.

After three months on anti-depressants, Stephanie was feeling more like her old self. She and Adam relocated to be near his family in Connecticut and moved forward with their plans for a larger family. When she became pregnant with daughter Brenley, Stephanie went back on medication as a precaution.

"The crying was immediate. It was darker than the first time," Hathaway said about her symptoms following the birth of her child.

This time, antidepressants didn't help. So Stephanie signed up for a clinical trial of a new kind of medicine.

Zulresso targets specific brain receptors to rebalance the hormones that spike during pregnancy and plummet after birth.

WEB EXTRA - Dr. Max Gomez explains the FDA's approval of the first postpartum depression drug:

Samantha Meltzer-Brody - chief of perinatal psychiatry at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine - led the trials and says fast acting relief is vital.

"The currently available treatments are not going to work for generally a month or more. That's really hard to look at someone and say I know you're suffering tremendously and we're going to start treatment and maybe a month from now you'll feel better," Dr. Meltzer-Brody said.

The new medicine is a one-time intravenous treatment that requires a three-night hospital stay. In clinical trials of more than 200 women, 70 percent had improvements in mood, appetite, sleep, and functioning.

Stephanie felt better on her very first day.

"Between hours 12 and 18, I noticed a huge difference. Those intrusive thoughts I told you about were gone and they never came back," Hathaway explained.

Women in the clinical trials were followed for 30 days, with most finding relief. Side effects may include sleepiness, dizziness, and headaches.

It's expected to cost between $20,000 and $35,000.

While postpartum depression affects up to 20 percent of new moms in the U.S., it's estimated that at least half of this group goes untreated.