It sets in unannounced like a thief in the night overwhelming her with mixed feeling from sadness to rage, then there is severe anxiety about the baby, suddenly switching to crying, frustration, low self-esteem, insecurity, guilt, amongst others. With perinatal depression, everything is wrong with the woman experiencing it.

Perinatal depression is a mood disorder that happens to one in seven new expectant women during pregnancy and within the first year after birth – a chronic combination of both prenatal and postpartum depression.

According to National Institute of Health (NHI), the common causes and risk factors include:

. Biological Triggers – Rapid drops in hormones like estrogen and progesterone after birth.

. Personal History – Past personal or family history of depression or anxiety.

. Stressors – Financial worries, lack of social support from family or partners and stressful life events.

Clearly, the journey from conception to childbirth goes beyond the trimester stages and delivery, some women experience mental health and emotional disorder that affects their womanhood and motherhood.

In a research gate systematic review on perinatal depression published in June 2026, perinatal mental health disorders significantly affect maternal and child well-being, particularly in low-and middle-income countries like Nigeria, where prevalence rates are high.

The systematic review conducted according to PRISMA guidelines where data were synthesised, and a meta-analysis was performed, the results of a community-based interventions, including psychoeducation, peer support groups, and the involvement of community health workers, were most effective in reducing perinatal depression and anxiety symptoms. Psychological interventions reduced the risk of perinatal depression by 30%.

The review shows that merely surviving pregnancy and childbirth is no longer an adequate standard for maternal care. A more holistic approach is needed, one that includes mental, emotional, and psychological well-being. Perinatal mental health, which spans from pregnancy through the first year postpartum, is essential for the overall health of mothers and their children. Poor maternal mental health negatively impacts maternal behaviours, interferes with child development, and can destabilise family dynamics. Women experiencing mental health challenges during the perinatal period may face difficulties in forming healthy attachments with their infants, which can have long-term consequences on the child’s emotional and cognitive development.

Thus, as exciting as the conception and birth of a baby can be to a mother, it can be emotionally draining, tasking, and stressful leading to a depressed mood which affects a woman’s quality of life, social functioning and economic productivity.

Speaking on Perinatal Depression, Women health expert, Dr Aduke Oluwaloni, states that perinatal depression remains one of the most common but obscure complications of childbirth that has been avoided as a subject for discussion based sociocultural factors in Nigeria. Needless to say that there is poor knowledge of perianal depression.

Nigeria is challenged with Perinatal Mental health Prevalence
The research gate systematic review also shows that Nigeria faces significant challenges related to perinatal mental health. Rates of prenatal depression are estimated at 22.7%, and postpartum depression at 20.8% (Sidebottom et al., 2023). These high prevalence rates are exacerbated by sociocultural stigma, poverty, gender inequality, and under-resourced healthcare systems (Livingston et al., 2025). Additionally, many Nigerian women do not have access to quality mental health care. Only one in five individuals with a mental health condition in Nigeria receives any form of treatment, and less than 3% of the national health budget is dedicated to mental health services. Most services are located in outdated institutions, and over 75% of mental health expenses are paid out-of-pocket, creating further barriers for low-income women.

Oluwaloni stressed that perinatal depression due to its chronic risk can progress into illness that may lead to death. “Perinatal depression is easily missed by medical practitioners and family members.”

The NIH research on perinatal depression revealed that it has a significant impact on the mother and long-term consequences on the cognitive and emotional development of most children whose mothers are affected. NIH also states that the estimated rate of perinatal depression in Nigeria ranges from 10 per cent to 30 per cent in a broad population and primary care survey.

Noting that underdiagnosis is a major challenge as less than 15-20 per cent cases are typically detected or treated in standard primary care settings due to limited mental health infrastructure.

Also, another challenge is the sociocultural stigma surrounding mental health and motherhood prevents many women from openly seeking help.

Explaining how perinatal depression can be cured Oluwaloni said: “Through the use of cognitive behavioural therapy and interpersonal therapy, regular exercises, adequate sleep, taking balanced diet and willingness to be better by communication with experts. This process is called non-pharmacological. There is also pharmacological process which is the use of Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs), Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCAs) Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) and others”

For Sandra Jordan, when she got pregnant, she suddenly started feeling uncomfortable in her own skin. “Nothing felt good anymore. There was tearing up due to a burden in my heart that I couldn’t put how I felt into words. My husband had just travelled abroad when I found out I was pregnant. I guess the feeling of going through the phase alone terrified me. I lost myself to sadness, every aspect of my life suffered including my job. I didn’t know why I felt terrible on a daily basis and I wanted to be better but I didn’t know how to. Something in my head kept telling me there was no way out of my loneliness. To make matters worse I couldn’t reach my husband for months until I gave birth. After birth, I thought I would get better but no, I felt worse and I lost it.

“One day, my colleague who has been monitoring my mood in the office walked up to me and said I was going through depression. At first it upset me to hear her say that. She apologised and told me she would take me to a doctor the next day. I agreed, we went together and I was diagnosed with perinatal depression. I felt weird. I couldn’t tell anyone. I was ashamed to be diagnosed with a mental problem. I worked through my sessions, took my medication and prayed. One day I just started to feel better than I did before – it got better with each passing day.”

On her part, Ibufara (surname) withheld said that her condition started when she was seven month pregnant. “For a whole day I didn’t feel my baby. That terrified me. Suddenly I started having anxiety and short breaths. I thought my baby had died inside me. I felt I had done something to harm her. I cried my eyes out. My husband came back and tried to convince me that nothing was wrong but failed. The next morning when I didn’t let him sleep in peace with my crying, he drove me to the hospital. A scan was conducted and the doctor said my baby was fine. She started kicking gently but that didn’t even make me feel better.

“For the rest of the pregnancy I was constantly paranoid, cried for no reason and felt like something was wrong with my baby all the time.

“When I eventually gave birth to a healthy baby girl, I thought that feeling would go away but it didn’t. It got worse. I was sad about everything. My emotion was so dampened that I couldn’t properly care for my baby. My husband was confused until he was advised to take me to a doctor. When we got to the doctor, he explained my mood and behaviour to him and how it’s been affecting my ability to take proper care of our baby and even relationship.

“Hearing my husband narrate the situation to the Doctor made me cry in pain. I have been hurting his feelings without knowing. He has been confused and worried about me. The Doctor asked him to step out and started asking me a number of questions. I cried all the way and he called my husband back in and told him that I would have to undergo treatment for perinatal depression. I felt terrible and from there on, I did everything humanly possible to get better and I did. Why wouldn’t I my marriage was at stake from my husband’s narrative of how he saw the situation. My baby was also suffering as I was disconnected from her. So I had to do everything and anything to get better,” Ibufara recount.

Speaking on the healing process of perinatal depression, Oluwaloni states that healing is a gradual singular act for individuals, some days get really switched up and others get by on a mild level until it no longer feels so bad any more.

“However, it is imperative for our healthcare systems to start staging campaigns across the country on perinatal depression. This will aid social support for women both in the pre-and-postnatal periods and routine screening of women should be encouraged for early detection and immediate intervention of perinatal depression, Oluwaloni noted”

She continued: “A lot of women during postnatal visits to the clinic conceal their emotions from their healthcare practitioners. They perceive their condition as normal rather than understand it as a mental disorder.”