Postpartum Depression Statistics

Postpartum depression is a treatable medical condition, and roughly one in eight mothers in the United States report symptoms of it. This page collects the current data — national and state-level prevalence, treatment gaps, costs and outcomes — with sources. For what postpartum depression is, how to recognize it and how it is treated, start with our guide to postpartum depression, or read the signs and symptoms.

If you are trying to work out whether this is happening to you, the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 are free, take three minutes and score themselves here — nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

Key Postpartum Depression Statistics

• 11.9% of mothers in the United States report symptoms of postpartum depression — about 1 in 8.
• Based on roughly 3.6 million annual births, that is more than 430,000 mothers a year.
• Rates vary more than twofold by state, from 7.2% in Louisiana to 17.1% in Mississippi.
• About 6 in 10 depressive episodes found in the weeks after birth began before delivery — a third during pregnancy and a quarter before it.
• Only about 1 in 4 mothers with postpartum depression symptoms receive a diagnosis.
• Mental health conditions, including suicide and overdose, cause more than 1 in 5 pregnancy-related deaths.
• Untreated maternal mental health conditions cost an estimated $14.2 billion for the babies born in a single year, from pregnancy to age 5.
• With treatment, most people feel better and their symptoms improve.

How Common Is Postpartum Depression?

The most recent national figure comes from the CDC’s Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), which surveys mothers after a live birth. In the 2023 data, 11.9% of mothers reported symptoms of postpartum depression.

Mental health conditions overall are the most common complication of pregnancy and childbirth, affecting roughly 1 in 5 pregnant and postpartum people each year.

Prevalence During Pregnancy Versus After Birth

Estimates differ for the two halves of the peripartum period:

• At any given point in pregnancy or the first year after birth, about 1% to 6% of women meet the criteria for major depression.
• As many as 7% of women have a major depressive episode in the first 3 months after birth.
• About 50% of postpartum major depressive episodes begin prior to delivery — which is why clinicians describe these collectively as peripartum episodes.

That last figure is the one most often missed. In a study of 10,000 new mothers, about 6 in 10 depressive episodes found after birth had started before the baby arrived.

Postpartum Depression Rates by State

Where a mother gives birth is associated with more than a twofold difference in reported symptoms. The table below covers the 46 states and the District of Columbia with available 2023 PRAMS data. California, Idaho, North Carolina and Ohio did not have data available.

Source: CDC PRAMS via HRSA Federally Available Data, 2023. National rate 11.9%.

Postpartum Depression by Race and Ethnicity

Source: CDC PRAMS, 2022, via CDC Chronic Disease Indicators.

These differences are not caused by race. They track systemic inequities — reduced access to quality care, experiences of racism and implicit bias from providers, higher rates of traumatic birth, and the chronic stress that accompanies economic and social inequality.

The Treatment Gap

The most consequential statistic on this page is not how many people develop postpartum depression. It is how many never get treated for it.

• Only about 1 in 4 people with postpartum depression symptoms receive a diagnosis.
• Roughly half of mothers with postpartum depression symptoms get no postpartum mental health care at all.
• With treatment, most people feel better and their symptoms improve.

Most people get better with treatment, yet most people with symptoms are never diagnosed. That gap is the entire problem.

Postpartum Depression and Maternal Mortality

• Mental health conditions, including suicide and overdose, are the leading underlying cause of pregnancy-related death in the United States.
• In CDC data from 36 states, they caused 22.7% of pregnancy-related deaths in 2017–2019 — close to double the share from hemorrhage, the second leading cause. In 45 states’ data for 2022, the share was about 28%.
• In a CDC review of 14 state Maternal Mortality Review Committees (2008–2017), 100% of pregnancy-related mental health deaths were judged preventable.

Rates of Related Perinatal Conditions

Postpartum depression is one of several conditions in the perinatal period, and the others are frequently mistaken for it.

For context on how rare the most severe presentation is: the DSM-5-TR notes that infanticide is a rare occurrence, and that when it happens it is most often associated with postpartum psychotic episodes involving command hallucinations or delusions about the infant — not with postpartum depression.

Postpartum Depression in Fathers and Partners

• About 10% of new fathers experience depression during the postpartum period.
• Risk rises substantially when the other parent is also experiencing postpartum depression.

Post-adoption depression is also documented, and does not require having given birth. For how paternal postpartum depression presents, how it is screened and what treatment looks like, see postpartum depression in men.

Risk Factor Statistics

• Having had postpartum depression after a previous birth makes another episode after the next birth far more likely — 27 to 46 times more likely in a Danish national study.
• Depression or anxiety during pregnancy is among the strongest predictors of a postpartum episode.
• A history of depression unrelated to childbirth substantially increases risk.
• Traumatic or unplanned birth, limited practical support, and financial strain are each independently associated with higher rates.

International Postpartum Depression Rates

The Economic Cost

Untreated maternal mental health conditions are estimated to cost the United States $14.2 billion for all the babies born in a single year, counted from pregnancy through the child’s fifth birthday — mostly lost productivity, increased medical spending, and preterm births and other effects on child health and development.

How Long Postpartum Depression Lasts

• Postpartum depression usually improves within 3 to 6 months, but it can last much longer, and about 1 in 4 people still have symptoms 3 years after birth.
• Symptoms can begin during pregnancy or at any point in the first year after birth.

For when symptoms typically start, when they peak and what recovery looks like month by month, see the postpartum depression timeline.

Recent Research Covered on This Site

Studies published since these headline figures were compiled:

• Depressive symptoms right after birth and infant mortality
• What happens after postpartum psychosis, years later
• The largest review of antidepressants in pregnancy and autism or ADHD risk
• What happened when people stopped antidepressants during pregnancy
• Screening and diagnosis identified largely different fathers
• Overdose deaths during pregnancy and after birth

Where These Numbers Come From

• CDC PRAMS — the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, a population-based survey of mothers following a live birth, covering about 81% of US births. Source of the national, state and race/ethnicity figures here.
• DSM-5-TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2022) — source of the peripartum onset figures, including that about half of postpartum episodes begin before delivery, and the prevalence of postpartum mood episodes with psychotic features.
• HRSA Federally Available Data — the route through which 2023 state-level PRAMS figures are published.
• CDC Maternal Mortality Review Committee data — source of the cause-of-death shares (36 states, 2017–2019; 2022 update) and of the preventability finding (14 states, 2008–2017).

A note on comparing figures: state and race/ethnicity data come from different PRAMS years (2023 and 2022 respectively), and prevalence estimates differ depending on whether they measure self-reported symptoms or a clinical diagnosis. Self-reported symptom rates are generally higher than diagnosed rates — which is consistent with the treatment gap above, not a contradiction of it.

If You Recognize Yourself in These Numbers

Statistics describe populations. They do not tell you what is happening to you, and a rate on a page is no substitute for someone asking how you actually are.

• Take a screening questionnaire and bring the result to an appointment.
• Read about postpartum depression symptoms and treatment.
• Find a therapist who treats postpartum depression.

If you are in crisis, call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or call the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-852-6262. Both are free and available 24 hours a day.