In view of the high morbidity and mortality in correlation with perinatal depression in women, researchers herein sought for the factors linked with the risk of developing perinatal depression in women as this may aid in early identification of depressed or depression-prone women in clinical practice.

• By performing a computerized systematic literature search in Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE, researchers identified 31 studies with an overall sample size of 79,043 women for inclusion in the review.

• Findings revealed the following as risk factors of perinatal depression in women: lower educational level, poor economic status of families, history of mental illness, domestic violence, perinatal smoking or drinking, and multiparity.