Postpartum depression: a nursing perspective on women's health and behaviors

Postpartum depression is examined from different disciplinary perspectives including obstetrics, psychiatry, psychology and nursing. These perspectives are compared in relation to knowledge development, research designs and interventions for clinical practice. Nursing's contributions to understanding women's health and behaviors are highlighted in three areas: exploring women's experiences with symptoms of depression; delineating the character of women's affective changes during childbearing; and further study of another form of symptom distress conceptualized as dysphoria. Three alternative hypotheses are presented as new directions for future nursing research.