Postpartum depression, now included in the describer of depression with peripartum onset (during pregnancy or within a month after giving birth), may be the most common problem associated with childbirth. It has been described as afflicting prominent historical figures like author/suffragist Charlotte Perkins Gilman in the 19th century. This illness is characterized by depression that a woman experiences either during pregnancy or within four weeks of giving birth, affecting about 3%-6% of women who give birth, up to 20% when only women with postpartum depression, rather than including those who are depressed during the pregnancy are counted. Peripartum depression occurs after one out of every eight deliveries in the United States, affecting about half a million women every year. Peripartum depression is also called major depression with peripartum onset. Delusional thinking after childbirth, called postpartum psychosis, affects about one in every 500 to 1,000 women.Notably, postpartum depression is not an illness that is exclusive to mothers. Fathers can experience it, as well. As with women, symptoms in men can result in fathers having difficulty caring for themselves and for their children when suffering from postpartum depression.Unfortunately, up to 50% of individuals with postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis are never detected. That can result in devastating outcomes for the patient and family. For example, postpartum psychosis is thought to have been a potential factor in Andrea Yates drowning her five children in 2001 and was explored as a factor in Susan Smith drowning her two sons in 1994.