The enduring impact of birth: Women's birth perceptions, postpartum depressive symptoms, and postpartum depression risk.

Perceived birth experience should be considered more central in assessing PPD. It may also be more robust than the PPD screeners used in practice, and therefore, could be a more reliable predictor of PPD. Providers should consider how the improved social-psychological quality of women's birth experience can act as a buffer to PPD and other postpartum concerns.