Pre natal and post natal depression

Antenatal depression is depression that happens during pregnancy. Postnatal depression is depression that happens after birth. Both are serious, negative emotional changes that last longer than two weeks and stop you from doing things you need or want to do in your daily life.

Antenatal and postnatal depressions have the same symptoms and are treated in the same way. The only difference between them is the timing.

Antenatal and postnatal depressions are more than the emotional changes that you might expect during pregnancy and just after birth. For example, pregnant women might expect to feel quite emotional as they go through big physical and practical changes during this time. And new mothers can expect to get the ‘baby blues’ a couple of days after having a baby. But these kinds of emotional changes don’t last long.

You might hear antenatal and postnatal depression referred to together as perinatal depression.