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Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants
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Maternal peripartum stress: A new consensus-based definition

Déborah Fort1, Susan Ayers2, Danny Horesh3,4

  • 1Institute of Higher Education and Research in Healthcare, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. deborah.fort@chuv.ch.

Archives of Women'S Mental Health
|July 1, 2026
PubMed

The peripartum period is a time of increased vulnerability to stress for women, yet no consensus definition of maternal peripartum stress exists. This paper reports work from European COST Action 22114 (TREASURE), which identified key concepts related to maternal peripartum stress in the literature and developed a consensus definition via a qualitative Delphi process involving 161 international researchers and clinicians. The resulting definition supports a shared understanding, enabling more targeted research and evidence-based clinical practice to improve perinatal care.

Keywords:
MaternalPeripartum stress appraisalPeripartum stress definitionPeripartum stress responsePeripartum stressor

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