Evidence suggests that post partum depression is very prevalent affecting 10-60 percent of women depending on the socioeconomic status. Since there is evidence that chemical imbalances that develop in the mother during her pregnancy affect the fetus, there is a need for our ability to screen for depression and risk factors during pregnancy. The relationship of the neurobiological markers and the psychological adjustment to the maternal role needs to be explored and further understood so that women at risk of postpartum depression can be identified during pregnancy and interventions can be done during pregnancy to prevent the adverse outcomes in the infant. The purposes of this individual research training program will be to conduct an exploratory study to 1) identify a low risk group and a high risk group of pregnant women who are at risk of postpartum depression, 2) compare the anxiety of the two groups, focusing on maternal role development in the prenatal and post partum periods and 3) compare the two groups on mother's prenatal and postpartum neurobiological markers of anxiety and depression and on the infant's neurological markers.
