A Study of Pregnant and Postpartum Women With and Without Mood Disorders

This study is looking at genetic, biological, and environmental causes and how all three may work together to cause postpartum mood episodes. Participants will have psychiatric histories taken and will be monitored throughout pregnancy and during the postpartum period for the development of depressive or other mood episodes. Biological measures, including hormone levels, immunological measures, and growth factors will be collected. Environmental factors such as sleep deprivation and stress will also be measured. These factors will be considered in the setting of genetic and epigenetic data with the hope that investigators will ultimately be able to predict the onset of postpartum mood episodes in this vulnerable population.