Postpartum depression

Postpartum depression (PPD), also called perinatal depression, is a mood disorder which may be experienced by pregnant or postpartum women. Symptoms include extreme sadness, low energy, anxiety, crying episodes, irritability, and extreme changes in sleeping or eating patterns. PPD can also negatively affect the newborn child.

Although the exact cause of PPD is unclear, it is believed to be due to a combination of physical, emotional, genetic, and social factors such as hormone imbalances and sleep deprivation. Risk factors include prior episodes of postpartum depression, bipolar disorder, a family history of depression, psychological stress, complications of childbirth, lack of support, or a drug use disorder. Diagnosis is based on a person's symptoms. While most women experience a brief period of worry or unhappiness after delivery, postpartum depression should be suspected when symptoms are severe and last over two weeks.

Among those at risk, providing psychosocial support may be protective in preventing PPD. This may include community support such as food, household chores, mother care, and companionship. Treatment for PPD may include counseling or medications. Types of counseling that are effective include interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and psychodynamic therapy. Tentative evidence supports the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

Depression occurs in roughly 10 to 20% of postpartum women. Postpartum depression commonly affects mothers who have experienced stillbirth, live in urban areas and adolescent mothers. Moreover, this mood disorder is estimated to affect 1% to 26% of new fathers. A different kind of postpartum mood disorder is Postpartum psychosis, which is more severe and occurs in about 1 to 2 per 1,000 women following childbirth. Postpartum psychosis is one of the leading causes of the murder of children less than one year of age, which occurs in about 8 per 100,000 births in the United States.