Depresión en el embarazo y el puerperio

background: depression, a disorder than mostly affects fertile women, is the leading cause of disease burden in chilean adult women. objective: to highlight the main facts currently known about depression in pregnancy and the puerperium. method: results of several studies are summarized in the context of a review of the literature. results: a third of chilean women have depressive and/or anxiety symptoms during pregnancy, while prevalence figures in the postpartum period increase to more than 40%. if strict operational criteria describing well defined depressive disorders are used, one outoftenpregnant/postpartum women is found to be depressed. persistent depression in pregnant women was shown to be associated with developmental delay in their children at 18 months of age and a 4.7 higher risk of depression in adolescence. postpartum depression has been associated to lower iq scores in preadolescents, and to violent behavior. different types of psychotherapy and antidepressant medication, which can be used at this time of life, are currently available. conclusions: pre and postpartum depression are highly prevalent and the impact of both, untreated and treated perinatal depression, must be taken into account when managing depressed childbearing women.