Postpartum Depression

What Is It?

Postpartum refers to the period immediately after childbirth. When a woman has significant symptoms of depression during this period, she is said to have postpartum depression.

Postpartum depression is not the same as the "baby blues," a much more common condition that affects as many as 85% of new mothers. New moms often are emotionally sensitive and tend to cry easily. The baby blues is uncomfortable, but usually doesn't interfere with functioning as a mother, and it almost always goes away within a few weeks.