postpartum depression
Sign in to saveAlso known as postnatal depression, Depressive Episode with Postpartum Onset, Post-Partum Depression, Major Depressive Episode with Peripartum Onset, Depression, Post-Natal, Depression, Post-Partum, Post Partum Depression, Post Natal Depression
endogenous depression that involves intense, sustained and sometimes disabling depression experienced by women after giving birth. The comprehensive term "Perinatal depression" refers to both postpartum depression and antenatal depression.
Key facts
- Other names
- Postnatal depression, perinatal depression
- Specialty
- Psychiatry
- Symptoms
- Extreme sadness, low energy , anxiety , changes in sleeping or eating patterns, crying episodes, irritability
- Complications
- self harm, suicide
- Usual onset
- A week to a month after childbirth
- Causes
- Unclear
- Risk factors
- Prior postpartum depression, bipolar disorder , family history of depression , psychological stress , complications of childbirth , lack of support, drug use disorder
- Diagnostic method
- Based on symptoms
- Differential diagnosis
- Baby blues
- Treatment
- Counselling , medications
- Frequency
- ~15% of births
via Wikipedia infobox
Research
16,566 papers- Pathophysiological mechanisms implicated in postpartum depression.Frontiers in neuroendocrinology · 2019
- Postpartum Depression: Pathophysiology, Treatment, and Emerging Therapeutics.Annual review of medicine · 2019
- Transformative Therapies for Depression: Postpartum Depression, Major Depressive Disorder, and Treatment-Resistant Depression.Annual review of medicine · 2025
- Consequences of maternal postpartum depression: A systematic review of maternal and infant outcomes.Women's health (London, England) · 2019
- Postpartum Depression: Screening and Collaborative Management.Primary care · 2023
via PubMed
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Postpartum depression (PPD), also known as perinatal depression, is a mood disorder which may be experienced by pregnant or postpartum women. Symptoms include extreme sadness, low energy, anxiety, crying episodes, irritability, and extreme changes in sleeping or eating patterns. PPD can also negatively affect the newborn child.
Although the exact cause of PPD is unclear, it is believed to be due to a combination of physical, emotional, genetic, and social factors such as hormone imbalances and sleep deprivation. Risk factors include prior episodes of postpartum depression, bipolar disorder, a family history of depression, psychological stress, complications of childbirth, lack of support, or a drug use disorder. Diagnosis is based on a person's symptoms. While most women experience a brief period of worry or unhappiness after delivery, postpartum depression should be suspected when symptoms are severe and last over two weeks.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “postpartum depression” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.