{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,19]],"date-time":"2026-02-19T14:51:45Z","timestamp":1771512705448,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,19]],"date-time":"2026-02-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771459200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medical Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: While postpartum depression is widely screened, the predictive value of antenatal symptoms remains underutilized. This study aimed to retrospectively analyze the longitudinal trajectory of depressive and anxiety symptoms from mid-pregnancy to the late postpartum period to identify critical windows for intervention and assess the impact of mental health service utilization. Methods: A retrospective longitudinal cohort study was conducted on 125 pregnant women monitored at the Emergency County Clinical Hospital of Craiova, Romania. Depression was assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), while anxiety was evaluated using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale. Data were collected at four intervals: 20\u201324 weeks (T1), 32\u201336 weeks (T2), 6 weeks postpartum (T3), and 12 weeks postpartum (T4). Results: The highest burden of depressive symptoms occurred in the antenatal period (mean EPDS: 15.6 \u00b1 9.41) rather than postpartum. Antenatal depression scores were strongly correlated with postpartum scores (rho = 0.98, p &lt; 0.001), indicating a stable continuum of distress, though this high correlation may also reflect measurement inertia. Anxiety scores demonstrated a \u201cplateau\u201d effect during pregnancy (mean GAD-7 \u2248 8.0) before declining postpartum. A stratified analysis revealed a \u201ctreatment paradox\u201d: women receiving mental health services had higher baseline morbidity and a slower rate of recovery compared to those who did not, remaining symptomatic at 12 weeks (mean EPDS: 14.2 vs. 11.0, p = 0.049). Conclusions: Perinatal distress in this cohort was primarily an antenatal phenomenon that persisted in the postpartum period. The \u201cantenatal peak\u201d suggests the hypothesis that screening should commence in the second trimester. Current interventions appear to stabilize but not fully resolve symptoms in high-risk women, suggesting a need for more intensive management strategies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medsci14010102","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,19]],"date-time":"2026-02-19T13:47:02Z","timestamp":1771508822000},"page":"102","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The Antenatal Origins of Postpartum Distress: A Retrospective Longitudinal Analysis of Depression and Anxiety Trajectories"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Larisa-Mihaela","family":"Holbanel","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Doctoral School, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1374-276X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adina","family":"Turcu-Stiolica","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biostatistics Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"},{"name":"Health Economics and Outcomes Research Department, \u201cIuliu Ha\u0163ieganu\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, Victor Babes Street No. 8, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sebastian Constantin","family":"Toma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Surgery Department, Dr. Constantin Andreoiu, Ploiesti County Emergency Hospital, 100097 Ploiesti, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3890-0931","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mihail-Cristian","family":"Pirlog","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Sociology Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Victor","family":"Gheorman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Psychiatry Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"379","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-clinpsy-050212-185612","article-title":"Postpartum depression: Current status and future directions","volume":"9","author":"McCabe","year":"2013","journal-title":"Annu. 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