News release

From: The Lancet

The Lancet Psychiatry: Around one in 15 women globally experience major depressive disorder in the year after childbirth, study suggests

Around one in 15 (6.8%) women are affected by major depressive disorder (MDD) in the year after childbirth, as well as around one in 16 (6.2%) during pregnancy, according to a global systematic review and meta-regression published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal. The analysis also found that the prevalence of MDD was highest during the first two weeks after childbirth (8.3%) but remained higher than in the general population throughout pregnancy and the first year after childbirth.

MDD is known to be relatively common during pregnancy and the year after birth but understanding exactly how common it is worldwide has been difficult. MDD is a serious mental disorder that differs from mild short-term mood changes shortly after birth (sometimes called ‘the baby blues’) and involves severe persistent symptoms such as sadness, loss of interest, and difficulty functioning day to day.

Previous global estimates have suggested the prevalence of depression during and after pregnancy to be around 14% to 17%, but these figures are often unreliable because studies have used inconsistent methods. Some research also fails to distinguish between MDD and mild short-term mood changes shortly after birth.

This current study is the first to provide a global estimate of how common MDD is at different points during pregnancy and the first year after birth, while also accounting for differences in how studies measure depression. The researchers analysed data from 780 studies, covering more than 2 million women and girls aged 10 to 59 years across 90 countries. They found that commonly used symptom-based screening tools can overestimate rates of MDD by between 71% and 122% compared with full clinical diagnoses.

The study also looked at the regional prevalence of MDD during and in the year after pregnancy, including Western Europe (5.0% and 5.3%, respectively) and North America (4.3% and 4.6%, respectively). It also highlights large regional differences in MDD during and in the year after pregnancy, with the highest prevalences in southern sub-Saharan Africa (15.6% and 16.6%, respectively) and the lowest in high-income Asia Pacific regions (3.1% and 3.3%, respectively).

The authors say their findings highlight the need for better screening, prevention, and treatment of MDD in routine maternity care. They emphasise that the first weeks after birth are a critical window for helping mothers, and that their results provide clearer data on MDD specifically to help target support and track progress over time.