Baby Blues VS. Post-Partum Depression?

I understand that the "Baby Blues" affect 85% of new mothers, and symptoms generally take 24 hours to 1 month to kick in.

Having said that, wouldn't it be fair to say that PPD, which is known to occur 1 year after the baby's delivery, and not after, is a general depression derived from circumstances and negative perceptions regarding the mother and the child?

Thus, does PPD exist? Or would it be more appropriate to label Post-Partum depression simply as a "Depression?"

First you have your metaphores mixed. "Baby Blues" is post partum depression. It's just happening more closely related to delivery, and tends to pass in a week or two. You also have your numbers a bit high. Only 12-15% of women actually do develop post partum depression, and it usually begins in the first months following giving birth. It may not be as severe at first, and may deepen over time if it's not attended to, but I don't believe it just shows up a year later. Post partum depression would be different from ordinary depression because it does have a physical component or trigger, which is the birth process. There is a great deal that isn't known about the effect of the various hormones in the body, except that they do have an effect. With pregnancy and delivery, and the subsequent theoretical return to a "normal" prepregnancy hormone cycle, there are ample opportunities for mishaps. The physcial symptoms are being aggrivated by the additional demands/stresses of caring for the infant, and the conflicts between expected feelings and what is actually being felt. It's a lot more complicated than just depression. Your analogy that it doesn't exist is akin to saying that PTSD doesn't exist, because the depression that accompanies that doesn't always show up immediately either. But really, why worry about the exact label you use? They are only really used to designate the differences in the underlying cause of the depression, which in turn suggests that the treatments required will be different. And that is so. But truly, your dismissal of PPD is rather insulting to women who do suffer from it, and I expect you will likely hear a lot about it from women who have suffered it. Hope your connection is shielded, or it may just burst into flames.

I am not entirely sure of the medical facts but from what I do know Post-Partum Depression is associated with a woman's hormones not settling down properly following the delivery of a child and is not associated with a mothers negative perception of her child or of being overwhelmed following the birth (as with baby blues).

If PPD were simply depression derived from circumstances and negative perceptions regarding the birth of a child surely whole families would suffer from it.

Do not make light of depression following childbirth it is a truly awful thing, robbing a woman of finding joy in what should be a magical time and making a very stressful time almost impossible to cope with. Also it can jeopardize her future relationship with her child if not properly treated.