BackgroundThis study was conducted to evaluate the validity of the Arabic translation of the Cohen Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) in pregnant and postpartum women.MethodsA sample of 268 women participated. These included 113 women in their third trimester of pregnancy, 97 in the postpartum period and 58 healthy female university students. GHQ-12 and EPDS were also administered to the participants. Internal consistency reliability, assessed using Cronbach's α, was 0.74.ResultsPSS-10 significantly correlated with both EPDS and GHQ12 (ρ = 0.58 and ρ = 0.48 respectively), and significantly increased with higher scores on stressful life events. PSS-10 scores were higher among university students who also recorded higher stressful life events scores.ConclusionThe Arabic translated version of the PSS-10 showed reasonably adequate psychometric properties.