Postnatal depression

Abstract

Postnatal depression is the most common psychopathological disorder during the postnatal period. It is a mood and anxiety disorder and affects around 15% of mothers. It involves the development of a major depressive episode whose onset can occur during pregnancy or within 4 weeks of giving birth, and depressive symptoms must be present for at least 2 weeks, but in clinical practice it is considered that it can also have an onset from pregnancy to 3–6 months postpartum, although it is more common during the postpartum period. There are still many cases of postnatal depression that are not detected in clinical practice; in spite of that, it has deleterious consequences for the mother and for the baby and can delay the physical, social, and cognitive development of the baby. Social, psychological, and biological factors can contribute to the development of postnatal depression. It is important to educate both professionals and mothers about the risk factors for early detection to prevent depression from developing. The treatment of depressed women in the postpartum period may be different according to the characteristics of every clinical case; psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy may be used alone or in combination. The therapy may be beneficial for the symptoms and drug treatment is a good option in cases where postpartum depression is considered moderate or severe and in which therapy was not effective.