Must Know Risks for Postpartum Depression

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Depression during pregnancy:

Maternal anxiety

Life stress

History of depression or anxiety

Lack of social support

Unintended pregnancy

Medicaid insurance or uninsured

Domestic violence

Lower income

Lower education

Smoking

Single status

Poor relationship quality

 

Postpartum depression:

Depression or anxiety during pregnancy (strong to moderate risk)

Experiencing stressful life events during pregnancy or the early postpartum period (strong to moderate risk)

Traumatic birth experience

Preterm birth/infant admission to neonatal intensive care Low levels of social support

Previous history of depression (strong to moderate risk)

Breastfeeding problems

Limited social support (strong to moderate risk)

Marital problems (moderate risk)

Parenting stress

 

(As reviewed in Lancaster CA, Gold KJ, Flynn HA, Yoo H, Marcus SM, Davis MM. Risk factors for depressive symptoms during preg- nancy: a systematic review. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2010;202:5–14, + Robertson E, Grace S, Wallington T, Stewart DE. Antenatal risk. factors for postpartum depression: a synthesis of recent literature. Gen Hosp Psychiatry 2004;26:289–95. +  Leigh B, Milgrom J. Risk factors for antenatal depression, postnatal depression and parenting stress. BMC Psychiatry 2008, 8:24)