Antepartum depression is a type of depressive order that many women experience during pregnancy, while postpartum depression is another that is often experienced after childbirth. Symptoms of either disorder may include mood swings, excessive crying, and difficulty with concentration. Like many other forms of depression, pregnancy-related depression rates are seeing a worrying increase during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Early findings of the University of Calgary's ongoing 'Pregnancy During the Pandemic' Research program, led by Dr. Catherine Lebel, suggests higher-than-normal (antepartum) depression symptoms among pregnant women.

Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody, the chair of the department of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the director of the Center for Women’s Mood Disorders, claims that the vulnerability of such a life transition itself, along with the fluctuation of hormones, makes new mothers more likely to develop (postpartum) depression during the global pandemic; for example, tasks such as getting diapers from the store have become harder and more stressful.