A fast-growing body of research is changing the very definition of maternal mental illness, showing that it is more common and varied than previously thought. Scientists say in [s]The New York Times[/s] that the new findings contradict the longstanding view that symptoms begin only within a few weeks after childbirth. In fact, depression often begins during pregnancy, researchers say, and can develop any time in the first year after a baby is born. The report says recent studies also show that the range of disorders women face is wider than previously thought. In the year after giving birth, studies suggest, at least one in eight and as many as one in five women develop symptoms of depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder or a combination.
[link url=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/health/thinking-of-ways-to-harm-her.html?emc=edit_th_20140616&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=60640071&_r=1]Full report in The New York Times[/link]
[link url=http://archive.ahrq.gov/downloads/pub/evidence/pdf/peridepr/peridep.pdf]Study analysis[/link]