Drs. Jennifer Payne and Lauren Osborne of the Johns Hopkins Women’s Mood Disorders Center discuss the rationale for continuing treatment for psychiatric illness throughout a woman’s pregnancy and perinatal period, what the risk factors for postpartum depression are, and how to distinguish between a mother’s benign (but upsetting) thoughts versus dangerous ones during that period. They also discuss the exciting new research at Johns Hopkins to better predict and treat postpartum depression.