Biological Triggers of Depression in Pregnancy

Exclusion Criteria

• •Pre-partum cohort:
• •Non-pregnant females
• •Patients with psychotic symptoms and/or severe cognitive impairment that interfere with their ability to give informed consent or to complete study assessments.
• •Patients that cannot read and write in English as research measures used have only been validated in English speaking populations.
• •Patients that have blood-borne chronic infections including hepatitis B, C, or HIV as established at routine pregnancy blood screens; they will be excluded as the laboratory facilities do not approve processing of their tissue for safety reasons.
• •Patients who have any schizophrenia spectrum disorder or bipolar disorder type 1 (based on self report and SCID interview); these patients will be excluded as the neurobiology of these disorders are different from peripartum depression.
• •Patients who report ongoing substance abuse or dependence (in the past 3 months).
• •Post-partum cohort:
• •Patients with psychotic symptoms and/or severe cognitive impairment that interfere with their ability to give informed consent or to complete study assessments.
• •Patients who cannot read and write in English as research measures used have only been validated in English speaking populations.
• •Patients that have blood-borne chronic infections including hepatitis B, C, or HIV; as established at their routine pregnancy blood screens.
• •Patients who have any schizophrenia spectrum disorder or bipolar type 1 (based on the self report and SCID interview).
• •Patients who report ongoing substance abuse or dependence (past 3 months).