[5] Pregnancy places significant strain on a woman's body, so stress, mood swings, sadness, irritability, pain, and memory changes are to be expected.
It is highly recommended that mothers who feel they are experiencing antenatal depression have a discussion about it with their health care provider.
Mothers with a history of mental health issues should also talk to their doctor about it early in the pregnancy to help with possible depressive symptoms.
Other factors include unintended pregnancy, hyperemesis gravidarum, financial issues, living arrangements and relationships with the father and family.
The following is a breakdown of when a group of various women began to feel the onset of symptoms associated with depression: In a recent article posted by The BabyCenter, the authors stated that "For years, experts mistakenly believed that pregnancy hormones protected against depression, leaving women more vulnerable to the illness only after the baby was born and their hormone levels plunged.
It can be caused by many factors, usually though involving aspects of the mothers personal life, such as family, economic standing, relationship status, etc.
[17] Additional risk factors include lack of social support, marital dissatisfaction, discriminatory work environments, history of domestic abuse, and unplanned or unwanted pregnancy.
[19] There is a higher risk of antenatal depression in woman living in low-income countries who deal with less access to quality healthcare, have economic issues, and don't have a good support system.
[21] Perinatal mental health screenings are important in detecting and diagnosing antenatal and postpartum depression early.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is one of the many maternal health organizations that strongly encourage universal screening for expectant and postpartum women for depression as part of routine obstetric care.
[22] Studies suggest that obese woman tend to develop mental health issues more frequently and should discuss any symptoms with their doctor at the first prenatal appointment.
[35] It may be true that maternal SSRI use during pregnancy can lead to difficulty for their newborn adjusting to conditions outside of the womb immediately following birth.
However, prenatal SSRI exposure was not found to have a significant impact the long-term mental and physical health of the children.
[38][39] In reference to a recent study by Coburn et al., the authors found that in addition to prenatal effects, higher maternal depressive symptoms during the postpartum period (12 weeks) were associated with more infant health concerns.
[46] The rates of hospitalization are found increased for infants who are born to women with high depression levels during pregnancy.
[47] In fact, positive antenatal screenings administered in the first or third trimester are found to be high risk factors for early cessation in breastfeeding.
[48] Studies also report that the environmental effects of maternal depression affect the developing fetus to such an extent that the impact can be seen during adulthood of the offspring.
In a recent study by Coburn et al.,[46] maternal prenatal depressive symptoms predicted significantly higher number of infant health concerns at 12-weeks (3 months) of age.
The health concerns included rash, colic, cold, fever, cough, diarrhea, ear infections, and vomiting.
[20] An interesting and informative area of research has been done to see the role of confounding variables in relationship of maternal prenatal depression with infant health concerns.
However, a preexisting paternal depression did not show any correlation, which may be due to the mother's perception of the changes in their partner's mood.