INTRODUCTION: Depression affects 10–15% of women during and after pregnancy. Studies have shown that increasing stressors increase rates of depression. Preeclampsia, a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, often results in stressful sequelae at various points in pregnancy, including preterm birth and prolonged hospitalization. We hypothesize that women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are at an increased risk for peripartum depression. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study and examined women who delivered at Loyola University Medical Center between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2019. Our cohort included 6,270 women and 7,125 pregnancies. We collected information including Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) scores, hypertensive status, demographics, and clinical characteristics. RESULTS: In our cohort, 79.51% of mothers had no hypertensive disorders, 10.22% had chronic or gestational hypertension, and 10.22% had preeclampsia. Predicted population average EPDS scores were higher for preeclamptic women than for all other women at all time points (P<.05). At 28 weeks of gestation, immediately postpartum, and 2–6 weeks postpartum, odds of peripartum depression for preeclamptic women were 1.72 times (P=.01), 1.45 times (P=.02), and 1.40 times (P=.03) those for normotensive women, respectively. CONCLUSION: Maternal mental health is an emerging focus within obstetrics with the larger goal of reducing maternal morbidity and mortality. In our study, women with hypertensive disorders had higher EPDS scores and higher odds of having depression. Those with preeclampsia specifically had the highest risk at all points in pregnancy. Understanding hypertensive disorders as a risk factor for depression may help us better support at-risk mothers.
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