Storytelling is a powerful tool for supporting perinatal mental health, allowing mothers process experiences, reduce isolation, and foster connection. Although generative AI is increasingly used in therapeutic and peer-support interventions, it remains unclear how AI-generated stories are perceived compared to narratives grounded in lived experience. We conducted a mixed-methods study to investigate the perceptions of AI-generated and human-authored stories. Using MTurk, we collected 400 responses from female participants in their perinatal stages. Participants rated stories on believability, engagement, relevance, and emotional catharsis. Results showed that AI-generated stories were often described as polished and coherent but emotionally distant, while human-authored stories, adapted from online communities, were viewed as raw, culturally specific, and emotionally resonant. Emotional catharsis was tied less to positivity than to the progression of emotions. These findings underscore the continued centrality of lived-experience narratives in perinatal support and suggest that any use of AI storytelling in this domain should be cautious, transparently bounded, and clearly secondary. We discuss implications for designing human-centered storytelling technologies that preserve authenticity while carefully delimiting the role of AI in perinatal mental health contexts.

Perinatal mental illness is a prevalent global concern impacting pregnant women and new mothers. Women frequently utilize technology for perinatal mental health (PMH) assistance, including smartphone applications, web-based platforms, social media, and online support groups. This study aims to understand mothers' perceived acceptability and effectiveness of mental health technologies and the challenges they face while adopting those technologies to navigate their PMH journey. We conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with mothers (n=15) who were either pregnant or in their postpartum. Additionally, we gathered data (1600 posts and corresponding 10,000 comments) from online perinatal support communities to explore the discussions concerning mothers' utilization of technology during the perinatal period. Our findings elucidate the diverse experiences of women around professional help, social support, anonymity, and misinformation when adopting and using perinatal technologies and how these experiences shape how they envision future PMH technologies and their aspects. Based on these findings, we recommend developing future evidence-based technologies that continuously support mothers throughout pregnancy and postpartum while advocating for existing technologies to prioritize transparency, empowering mothers to make informed decisions and enhance their digital literacy regarding PMH resources.

Postpartum depression (PPD) is one of the most prevalent mental health disorder following childbirth. Mothers utilize social media and online forums throughout postpartum to seek mental health support. In this paper, we aim to gain a comprehensive understanding of the topics of naturally occurring online discussions and the online social support dynamics associated with PPD. We qualitatively analyze posts and comments from three postpartum depression support communities corresponding to well-known online social platforms (Reddit, What to expect, and Babycenter). We discovered that the three communities share common themes of discussion that include the causes, stressors, symptoms, and coping mechanisms for PPD. Seeking both informational and emotional support through venting and storytelling was prevalent, and emotional support seeking was more common in Reddit than the other two communities. We provide recommendations for future postpartum depression research and design considerations based on pervasive help-seeking approaches.