It's shocking that the suicide rate is this high among women who are pregnant or have just given birth.

I read the whole article, and was shocked. For some reason I'd always assumed that Japan has a culture and a system that supports new mothers, and families in general.

The number of suicide deaths among expecting and nursing mothers between 2005 and 2014 was 8.5 in every 100,000 births -- over double the number of non-suicide deaths.

It's not that surprising if you take into account postpartum depression. Or overall depression rates in Japan. I don't think Japan is the best at handling mental health issues.

Post Partum Depression, and hormonal imbalances are very logical reasons for something like this.