Defined as spanning pregnancy and the 1st postnatal year [1], the perinatal period is recognized as a sensitive time for a mother’s emotional well-being. It is characterized by hormone-level fluctuations, many physical and psychological changes, and social adjustment to the new parental role [2]. Following these changes, some women experience moderate to severe adjustment difficulties throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period. Depressive symptoms are fairly frequent during the perinatal period, and their estimated prevalence varies 10–20 % in Western countries. They occur during pregnancy, after birth, or during both periods [2, 3]. Recent studies have focused on antenatal depression and reported equal or higher levels of symptoms than with postnatal depression [4–9]. They have found adverse consequences on maternal self-care, obstetric and birth outcomes [10], and foetal and infant development [11]. Antenatal depression has also been recognized as a major predictive factor for postnatal depression [12, 13].