Adele C. Viguera, MD
The symptoms of depression that occur in pregnancy are not necessarily unique; they are the same symptoms that a prenatal or postpartum depression patient may have experienced during a previous depressive episode.
"There can be confusion, however, because many of the normative physical symptoms of pregnancy, such as fatigue, sleep disturbance or lack of appetite, can overlap with symptoms of depression," explains Dr Adele Viguera. "We generally look for symptoms such as anhedonia, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation. These symptoms are less specific to pregnancy and more associated with the core symptoms of major depression. This enables us to identify antenatal and postpartum depression more easily."