Depression is a serious illness characterized by feelings of sadness, hopelessness, guilt and worthlessness. Typical symptoms of depression include loss of pleasure in daily activities, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, weight loss or gain, and persistent feelings of sadness or emptiness (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2011). Unfortunately, depression is a common problem in today's world. In recent years, depression has been identified as a major public health problem in the United States. This is partly due to the lack of recognition and treatment of depression in many people. An additional problem is that, despite treatment, many people relapse and fall back into their depression. Depression is the leading cause of disability among men and women (World Health Organization [WHO], 2012). According to the World Health Organization, depression is the leading cause of morbidity among women (WHO, 2012). Although depression is a serious illness, it is treatable. Depression is particularly a problem for women because it is more prevalent among women than men; this may be due to hormonal and psychosocial factors that women face (NIMH, 2011). The onset of depression often occurs during a woman's reproductive years and is therefore of particular importance in the field of obstetrics and gynecology (Marcus and Heringhausen, 2009). Due to the increase in knowledge, emphasis has been placed on perinatal depression or depression that occurs during pregnancy or within twelve months after delivery. Now that the prevalence of depression during and after pregnancy has been established, emphasis has been placed on how to treat depression during pregnancy. Antidepressants are a common treatment for depression; however......middle of article......observed in women during their reproductive years, particularly between ages 20 and 40 (Marcus & Heringhausen, 2009; Weissman & Olfson, 1995) . Looking specifically at depression during pregnancy, studies have shown that between 10% and 16% of pregnant women meet criteria for MDD and up to 20% experience depressive symptoms (Marcus & Heringhausen, 2009 ; Gotlib et al., 1989; The DSM-IV-TR does not recognize postpartum depression as a distinct disorder, but rather as a “specifier” of major depressive disorder (DSM-IV-TR, 2000). For a patient to receive a diagnosis of “postpartum depression,” she must meet the criteria for major depressive disorder and the postpartum depression specifier (DSM-IV-TR, 2000). Finally, the postpartum depression specifier applies if the onset of depression occurs within four weeks of delivery..