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Postpartum depression

Depression that begins in the weeks or months after a baby is born, up to a year, lasting 2 weeks or longer and stronger than the baby blues.

What It Means

Postpartum depression is a depression that begins after a baby is born, most often within the first few weeks but possibly any time in the first year. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) groups it with depression during pregnancy under the name perinatal depression. It is more intense and lasts longer than the baby blues, which are mild mood swings in the first 2 weeks that fade on their own. Doctors treat it as a medical condition, and the Office on Women's Health says it generally doesn't get better without treatment.

Try It: Baby Blues or Time to Call the Doctor?

Move the slider to how long the low mood has lasted. This follows the time frames NIMH and the Office on Women's Health give. It doesn't diagnose anything.

Days3

This fits the baby blues pattern if it stays mild and fades. If it deepens or reaches 2 weeks, call your doctor.

National Maternal Mental Health Hotline: 1-833-852-6262, call or text, free and confidential.

How Parents Say It

  • "I thought it was just the baby blues."
  • "I love him, but I feel nothing."
  • "My OB gave me a questionnaire at the six-week visit."

The Breakdown

Baby blues and postpartum depression side by side

Baby bluesPostpartum depression
When it startsFirst 2 weeks after birthAny time in the first year, most often 1 to 3 weeks after birth
How longPasses on its own within days2 weeks or longer, can last months
How strongMild worry, sadness, tirednessLow, anxious or empty mood most of the day
What helpsRest and supportTreatment from a health care provider

Source: NIMH and the Office on Women's Health.

Signs to watch for. NIMH lists a persistent sad or empty mood, hopelessness, irritability, guilt or worthlessness, lost interestInterest rateThe yearly percentage a lender charges for borrowing money, not counting fees; the APR adds certain fees to show a fuller cost. See more in things you used to enjoy, and fatigue. ACOG's patient page adds crying more than usual, feeling angry, feeling distant from your baby, and doubting that you can care for your baby.

Screening by stage

WhenWho screensSource
During pregnancy and at postpartum visitsYour obstetric provider, with a validated questionnaireACOG, 2023 guideline
Baby's 1, 2, 4 and 6 month visitsYour baby's pediatricianAAP, 2019 report

When to call. Call your doctor or midwife if the feelings last 2 weeks or more, get stronger, or make it hard to care for yourself or your baby. If you have thoughts of harming yourself or your baby, call 911 or 988 right away.

Good to Know

The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline, run by HRSA, is free, confidential and open 24/7 by call or text at 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262), in English and Spanish. Calls and texts to 988 reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline around the clock. In an emergency, call 911. ACOG's guideline asks providers to screen for anxiety as well as depression, so mention worry that won't switch off as well as sadness.

FAQ

How is postpartum depression different from the baby blues?

The baby blues are mild, start in the first 2 weeks after birth and fade within days. Postpartum depression is stronger, lasts 2 weeks or longer and can start any time in the first year, according to NIMH and the Office on Women's Health.

Will my baby's pediatrician ask about my mood?

The AAP recommends that pediatricians screen mothers for depression at the baby's 1, 2, 4 and 6 month well visits. Your own obstetric provider is also asked by ACOG to screen at postpartum visits.

Who can I call right now?

The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262) is free, confidential and open 24/7 by call or text. For a crisis, call or text 988, and call 911 in an emergency.

Do It in Buhata

Calendar and Reminders

Put your postpartum visits and your baby's 1, 2, 4 and 6 month checkups on the Calendar in Buhata with a Reminder the day before each, so there's a set time to mention how you've been feeling.

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Related Terms and Categories

  • Fourth trimester

    The weeks after a baby is born, treated by ACOG as a stage of care in its own right, with provider contact in 3 weeks and a full visit by 12 weeks.

  • Mom rage

    An everyday phrase for sudden, intense anger mothers describe, often after a birth; Cleveland Clinic calls the postpartum form postpartum rage.

  • Parental burnout

    Exhaustion from the job of parenting that builds when its demands outweigh a parent's resources for a long time, often with emotional distance from the children.

  • Newborn

    A baby in the first 28 days of life, the stage doctors also call the neonatal period.

Parenting and child development

Sources

National Institute of Mental Health, "Perinatal Depression"; Office on Women's Health, "Postpartum depression"; Office on Women's Health, "Postpartum Depression" fact sheet; ACOG, "Postpartum Depression" (FAQ); ACOG, Clinical Practice Guideline No. 4, "Screening and Diagnosis of Mental Health Conditions During Pregnancy and Postpartum" (2023); American Academy of Pediatrics, "Incorporating Recognition and Management of Perinatal Depression Into Pediatric Practice," Pediatrics (2019); AAP Voices, "Screening New Parents for Depression Helps Mother, Child and the Whole Family"; HRSA Maternal and Child Health Bureau, "National Maternal Mental Health Hotline"; 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

Last updated .