What does Postpartum Depression feel like?
- Feelings of anger, irritability and/or rage
- Lack of interest in baby
- Disturbance of sleep and appetite
- Crying and sadness
- Feelings of guilt, shame or hopelessness
- Loss of interest, joy or pleasure in things you used to enjoy
- Possible thoughts of harming yourself or baby
This webpage also offers a helpful list of other perinatal mental health conditions. For each condition you can learn more about symptoms, risk factors, and treatment options that can help you feel better.
Treatment options can be talked about with your healthcare provider to decide what is the best plan for you. Options can include:
- Working on behaviors that can improve your mental health for example sleep, meditation, exercise, participating in support groups
- Counseling
- Medication
- Some people also may need more intensive support and participation in an inpatient program
What can cause maternal mental health issues?
The Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance has a useful Maternal Mental Health Overview fact sheet which includes a summary of the things that can cause maternal mental health conditions. Examples include:
- Changes in hormone levels, which can affect someone’s moods
- Changes in your personal life after becoming a parent such as your role at home and having new responsibilities
- The daily stressors of life like work and finances
- Other experiences in your environment, like the COVID-19 pandemic, that can increase anxiety or depression
There are many things that can affect whether or not someone will experience mental health challenges. Being pregnant, becoming a parent, and raising a family can all be really hard at times. The important thing to remember is that if you are struggling, support and treatment are available, and you can get help.
What Can Happen if Someone Doesn’t Get Mental Health Support When They Need It?
The Maternal Mental Health Alliance has a fact sheet titled “Maternal Mental Health Overview” and it shares helpful information about untreated perinatal and postpartum mental health conditions, which include depression. Some highlights from the fact sheet are below:
- 75% of women impacted by Maternal Mental Health (MMH) conditions remain untreated, increasing the risk of long-term negative impacts on mothers, babies, and families
- Moms that don’t get the mental health support they need may not get all of the prenatal care they should or use substances like alcohol and tobacco
- Moms also might have trouble bonding with their baby and worry they aren’t good at being a mom
- Children of moms that don’t get the mental health support they need are at higher risk of being born too early, weighing too little at birth, or crying much more than is normal
- Parents that are depressed or anxious and don’t get support may be more likely to have issues setting up safe sleep environments for baby or setting up a car seat correctly
- In untreated, symptoms of MMH conditions can last up to 3 years postpartum
- As many as 1 in 10 fathers experience postpartum depression, with maternal depression being the #1 predictor of paternal depression
- Partners and adoptive parents are also at risk for experiencing mental health conditions related to pregnancy and parenting
- The cost of treating MMH conditions is $32,000 per mother-infant pair, or $14 billion each year in the U.S.
Do you want to read some of the research? Please see the articles and fact sheets below with more info:
- Financial Toll of Untreated Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders Among 2017 Births in the United States - PMC
- Fact Sheet - Maternal Mental Health Impact on the Child Fact Sheet - August 1 2025
- Trajectories of Maternal Postpartum Depressive Symptoms | Pediatrics | American Academy of Pediatrics (in one study, lasted up to 3 years when untreated)