The perinatal mental health of women living in low- and lower-middle-income countries has only recently become the subject of research, in part because greater priority has been assigned to preventing pregnancy-related deaths. In addition, some have argued that in resource-constrained countries women are protected from experiencing perinatal mental problems through the influence of social and traditional cultural practices during pregnancy and in the postpartum period. This systematic review was performed with the objective of summarising the evidence surrounding the nature, prevalence and determinants of non-psychotic common perinatal mental disorders (CPMDs) among women living in low- and lower-middle-income countries.