A baby’s birth is usually a time of joy and celebration. For parents, though, the delight might be tempered with worries about the baby’s safety, family finances, and sleepless nights. It’s normal to have anxieties while adjusting to parenthood. But after giving birth, some women develop a more extreme condition—a depression that persists for at…

Many women develop depression after giving birth. This is called postpartum depression. A new study found that a large number of women had high levels of depressive symptoms at some point in the three years after giving birth. Researchers asked more than 4,500 women about their symptoms of depression four months and one, two, and…

One in three new mothers during early COVID-19 screened positive for postpartum depression, a new study shows. That’s nearly triple pre-pandemic levels. The researchers also found 1 in 5 had major depressive symptoms. Before COVID, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 1 in 8 women experienced postpartum depression, and about 5 to 7%…

The extended duration of the COVID-19 pandemic means that more women will give birth during the pandemic, and some will have more than one pregnancy and postpartum experience. As physical activity researchers who advocate for exercise as medicine, we’re studying the impact of exercise on the well-being of postpartum women during the pandemic. The COVID-19…