# Perinatal depression (mother) Condition · id `maternal:perinatal-depression` · Maternal & Newborn Atlas · release `c7fb95f1d15a7d13` (public) > General information from published sources, not medical advice, and not reviewed by clinicians. Check the cited source before relying on anything here. The atlas's own text and curation may be reused under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/): credit the atlas, and do not use it commercially. See the atlas About page. Text quoted from a source stays under that source's own terms, given as the source's reuse\_basis. The atlas's reuse terms do not cover it. The downloads list each quotation with its source in third\_party\_quotations. Browse, life stage: Pregnancy; Postpartum Browse, care area: Mental health ## In plain language Depression that starts during pregnancy or after a baby is born. It can range from mild to severe, can make it hard to do daily tasks or care for a baby, and can be treated. NIMH says most episodes begin within the first 4 to 8 weeks after the birth. The short, milder low mood often called the baby blues is a different thing. ## Technical summary NIMH describes perinatal depression as a mood disorder that occurs during pregnancy and after childbirth, with symptoms from mild to severe. It includes depression in pregnancy (prenatal depression) and in the weeks and months after birth (postpartum depression, recorded as a subtype). The US Preventive Services Task Force says it affects as many as 1 in 7 women (see the claim on this page). NIMH names cognitive behavioral therapy and interpersonal therapy as evidence-based therapies and says treatment usually includes therapy, medication, or both. US regulators have approved two medicines specifically for postpartum depression, brexanolone by infusion and zuranolone by mouth, each recorded in the atlas with its trials. The recipient is the pregnant or postpartum woman. Effects on the baby are not covered by the claims recorded here and would sit in their own contexts. ## Claims, with the population each applies to ## Context: Women in pregnancy or after childbirth (USPSTF description of perinatal depression, 2019) Recipient: Maternal; Population: Women in pregnancy or following childbirth. The USPSTF abstract gives the figure of as many as 1 in 7 women without stating a country, year or study for it.; Care setting: Not stated in the abstract.; Geography: Not stated for the figure. The statement is a US recommendation.; Life stage: Pregnancy and after childbirth; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable ### The US Preventive Services Task Force describes perinatal depression as the occurrence of a depressive disorder during pregnancy or following childbirth. It says perinatal depression affects as many as 1 in 7 women and is one of the most common complications of pregnancy and the postpartum period, and that it is well established that it can result in adverse short- and long-term effects on both the woman and child. - Category: Burden - Evidence stage: Guidance - Certainty: Certainty not assessed - Applies to: Recipient: Maternal; Population: Women in pregnancy or following childbirth. The USPSTF abstract gives the figure of as many as 1 in 7 women without stating a country, year or study for it.; Care setting: Not stated in the abstract.; Geography: Not stated for the figure. The statement is a US recommendation.; Life stage: Pregnancy and after childbirth; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable - Limitations: This is the importance paragraph of the USPSTF statement's abstract, which gives no source, country, year or definition for the 1 in 7 figure; as many as 1 in 7 is an upper figure, not an average. The atlas read only the abstract. Other organisations publish different prevalence figures; none is used here. - Last checked: 2026-10-14 - Sources: 1. Supports: Interventions to Prevent Perinatal Depression: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, IMPORTANCE, sentence 1, fragment 1 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:18:31Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: c7a737a54883711a0300ea526238b7e344c82df6f883be6ed2b8a7f7f8356fa3. How it applies: Definition and prevalence, part 1. 2. Supports: Interventions to Prevent Perinatal Depression: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, IMPORTANCE, sentence 1, fragment 2 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:18:31Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: c7a737a54883711a0300ea526238b7e344c82df6f883be6ed2b8a7f7f8356fa3. How it applies: Prevalence, part 2. 3. Supports: Interventions to Prevent Perinatal Depression: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched.) Locator: Abstract, IMPORTANCE, sentence 2. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:18:31Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: c7a737a54883711a0300ea526238b7e344c82df6f883be6ed2b8a7f7f8356fa3. How it applies: Adverse short- and long-term effects. ## Connected pages - Filed under this front: Mental health and support (`maternal:front-mental-health-and-support`) - Possible new step for the expectant-parents reading path: Reading path for expectant parents (`maternal:reading-path-expectant-parents`) - Has subtype: Postpartum depression (mother) (`maternal:postpartum-depression`) - Related to: Postpartum psychosis (mother) (`maternal:postpartum-psychosis`) - Related to: Psychiatry access lines for obstetric clinicians (MCPAP for Moms model) (`maternal:idea-perinatal-psychiatry-access-programmes`) - Recommended for this: Counselling to prevent perinatal depression (`maternal:perinatal-depression-prevention-counselling`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `maternal:claim-uspstf-2019-counselling-referral` and its context] - Evaluated for this: Counselling to prevent perinatal depression (`maternal:perinatal-depression-prevention-counselling`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `maternal:claim-ipt-group-intervention-ppd-prevention-public-assistance` and its context] - Related to: Screening for depression in pregnancy and after birth (`maternal:perinatal-depression-screening`) - Evaluated for this: Thinking Healthy Programme (CBT by community health workers) (`maternal:thinking-healthy-programme`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `maternal:claim-thinking-healthy-maternal-depression-pakistan` and its context] - Related to: Postpartum Support International (PSI) (`maternal:postpartum-support-international`) ## Provenance Content hash: 7620d44a27912c8462a7526baba7b1be0786f4ff0c0a69921607846339431d77 Last substantive edit: 2026-10-14 Evidence last checked: 2026-10-14