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A program of research on the prevalence, causes, and treatment of postpartum depression is described. Three prospective studies of postpartum depression, which tested a “vulnerability-life stress” model, found that risk factors such as personal and family history of depression and the occurrence of life stressors separately and in combination elevates a women’s risk for depression in the postpartum period. Although prevalence rates for postpartum depression ranging between 10% and 12% indicate that many women suffer in the postpartum period, these rates appear not to be significantly increased over rates of depression at other times in women’s lives. In the final section of the paper, a controlled clinical trial evaluating Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) as a treatment for postpartum depression is described. IPT was found to be significantly more effective than a waiting list control condition in reducing levels of depressive symptomatology over the 12 weeks of the trial. Moreover, IPT was associated with significantly improved social functioning relative to the control condition. IPT offers great promise as a psychological treatment for postpartum depression.