Abstract:  Postpartum depression (PPD) refers to the depression symptoms that appear in the postpartum period which has negative impact on the health and well-being of a large number of new mothers, their offspring, and the rest of their family’s members. In the present review, key predictive factors of PPD are discussed, including genetic gene, attachment styles, negative experience of the childhood and hormone level changes. The neural network and brain regions related to PPD are resided largely in the prefrontal cortex, the cingulate cortex, the amygdale, the hippocampus and the other parts in the brain and their corresponding neural network. Future research in this field should focus on exploring an integrated predictive model, an etiology model of PPD, controlled trials of male partners and an intervention model based on characteristics of brain plasticity.

Key words:  postpartum depression, attachment styles, adverse childhood experience, hormone level, neural mechanisms