Source: Johnson et al., J Clin Psychiatry 2026

Postpartum depression affects up to one in five new mothers, and for some it lingers for years. Standard antidepressants can take four to six weeks to work, and the one approved rapid treatment requires a two-week course. This was the first trial of 5-MeO-DMT (also called mebufotenin) in postpartum depression. It tested GH001, an inhaled synthetic formulation made by GH Research.

The study

Design: Phase 2a, single-arm, open-label proof-of-concept trial. Everyone received the medicine and knew it.
Participants: 10 women aged 18-45 with moderate-to-severe postpartum depression, enrolled at one UK site between March 2023 and August 2024. They were more than 4 weeks and less than 12 months postpartum, with an average age of about 32. Most were not taking medication for their current episode.
Medication rules: antidepressants, antipsychotics, other psychedelics and anything with MAOI activity were not allowed during the trial or for at least two weeks before. No one stopped a medication just to join.
Dosing: up to three escalating inhaled doses (6, 12 and 18 mg) on a single day, one hour apart, using a medical vaporizer. A further dose was given only if the previous one was well tolerated and hadn't produced an intense "peak" experience. In practice, 1 woman received one dose, 7 received two, and 2 received all three.
Setting: a clinic with medical supervision and supportive care, but no planned psychotherapy before, during or after.

What it found

Depression scores: the average score fell from 36.7 to about 1 by day 8, a drop of roughly 96%.
Speed: improvement was already clear two hours after the final dose.
Remission: all 10 women met criteria for response and remission at 2 hours, day 2 and day 8.
Daily functioning: self-reported maternal functioning improved by about 56% by day 8.
The experience: 7 of 10 reached a strong "peak" experience. Effects lasted a median of about 22-25 minutes per dose.
Suicidal thoughts: 3 women reported suicidal thoughts at baseline. None did after treatment.

Safety

Side effects: there were 13 mild or moderate side effects across 8 women and no serious ones. Headache was most common, in 5 of 10.
Heart rate and blood pressure: both rose briefly after dosing and returned to normal within 20-60 minutes.
Recovery: there was no sedation and no lasting effect on thinking or attention, and everyone went home the same day.
Breastfeeding: in four nursing participants, the medicine appeared in breast milk briefly and was essentially gone within about 8-10 hours. This suggests only a short pause in breastfeeding would be needed.

Limitations

Only 10 participants, with one week of follow-up
No placebo group and no blinding
90% of participants were White, and most weren't on antidepressants, so the results may not apply to everyone
The trial aimed for 15 participants but stopped at 10 because of recruitment challenges
It was designed and funded by GH Research, and several authors are company employees

What this means, and doesn't

The size and speed of the improvement are striking, and they line up with other GH001 trials in depression. But a small, unblinded study can't separate the medicine's effect from expectation, attention and natural recovery. Larger placebo-controlled trials with longer follow-up are the real test, as the authors themselves note.

This is also a pharmaceutical product, given in a clinic, to treat a diagnosed condition. Ceremonial work with 5-MeO-DMT is something different, and it isn't a treatment for postpartum depression. Anyone struggling after having a baby should start with their doctor or midwife.

What the study does add is evidence that a short, carefully supported experience with this molecule can produce a rapid and meaningful shift.

Research summaries are for education, not medical advice. Considering 5-MeO-DMT yourself?
Start with Safety & Screening.