ObjectiveTo systematically evaluate the detection rate of postpartum depression in Chinese maternal population and to provide a scientific basis for the prevention and treatment of postpartum depression.MethodsWe searched CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, PubMed, EMbase and The Cochrane Library databases to collect studies on the detection rate of postpartum depression in Chinese maternal population from January, 2001 to August, 2019. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and evaluated the risk of bias of included studies. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata15.0 software.ResultsA total of 24 studies involving 38 357 cases were included. Meta-analysis results showed that the total detection of postpartum depression in Chinese females was 15% (95% CI 12% to 17%). Subgroup analysis showed that the detection of postpartum depression was 12.3% (95% CI 9.3% to 15.2%) in the south and 17.3% (95%CI 12.1% to 22.5%) in the north. According to the Edinburgh postpartum depression scale, the rate was 14.5% (95%CI 11.4% to 17.5%); and for other scales, the rate was 15.0% (95% CI 8.9% to 21.2%); simple random sampling method was 14.8% (95%CI 11.0% to 18.7%), and cluster sampling was 16.3% (95%CI 12.0% to 20.5%). The rate was 15.8% (95%CI 9.3% to 22.3%) from 2001 to 2010, 13.5% (95%CI 7.7% to 19.2%) from 2011 to 2014, and 14.8% (95%CI 10.9% to 18.6%) from 2015 to 2019. Sensitivity analysis showed that the combined results were stable.ConclusionsThe detection rate of postpartum depression in Chinese maternal population is high, and early screening and related intervention should be paid more attention to these population.