Postpartum Depression Without Antenatal Depression in Primiparous Women

Abstract

Antenatal depression has been suggested to be the strongest predictor of postnatal depression; and in turn postpartum depression has seemed to be the strongest predictor for parenting stress [1-4]. To date, some studies have suggested that maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy are associated with postpartum depressive symptoms, especially those are depressed during the third trimester of pregnancy [1-4]. In our earlier small study [4], depressive and/or anxiety symptoms showed somewhere during pregnancy in 86% of the women who had depressive symptoms during postpartum. Therefore, early identification and treatment of perinatal depression has been suggested to be important [5, 6]. On the other hand, some women develop depressive symptoms during postpartum without any depressive symptoms during pregnancy [4]. Although we have tended to get caught up in the former as “high-risk approach”, we must always keep in mind that the latter is present, because it is undeniable that they also have a potential risk of maltreatment