Women with puerperal psychosis, the most severe form of postnatal mental illness that affects about one in 500 mothers, are not often spotted until their behavior becomes extreme. Access to specialist mental health services is delayed because of practitioners' "wait and see" attitude. Obvious symptoms such as the "blues" are not the only warning signal of postnatal depression. New mothers who are extremely elated or "high" after having a baby are at an increased risk of postnatal depression. In a study of 300 mothers who gave birth at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in London, England, it was observed that an unnaturally high mood, often marked by boundless energy and apparent self confidence, could collapse into depression. Twenty-two percent of the women who appeared high after having a baby went on to develop depression, compared with 28% of women who had the blues. One of the research team observed that the behavior of "high" women was quite different from that of "just a happy person." "They are disinhibited," he remarked.
-Nursing Times Nov. 3-9, 1999
Reprinted from Midwifery Today E-News (Vol 1 Issue 48, Nov 26, 1999)
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