Abstract
Research on postpartum depression and co-occurring conditions, such as anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), continues to accumulate at a rapid rate, with recent identification of new risk factors and treatments. This article highlights these recent findings. Recent studies have identified several groups of women more at risk for depression postpartum: women in the military; refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants; women who gave birth during COVID, and women who smoke. In addition, there are several emerging treatments for depression that are promising that include non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic modalities. Among the non-pharmacologic treatments are acupuncture and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). New medications include ketamine and esketamine, and brexanolone and zuranolone. All these medications reduce symptoms quickly and have been approved to treat severe depression. Ketamine and esketamine have been approved for depression in general, while brexanolone and zuranolone specifically treat postpartum depression.