Postpartum Psychosis Higher in First-Time Mothers

In a new study published in PLoS Medicine, Unnur Valdimarsdóttir and colleagues investigated the clinical incidence ofpostpartum psychosis and its risk factorsin a large study of first-time Swedish mothers. They studiedfirst-time moms in the first 90 days after the birth who wereexperiencing psychosis for the first time in their lives in order to find out what might contribute to the illness other than previous history of psychotic episodes, which is already well known as a risk factor.

They found that theincidence of psychotic illness peaks immediately following a first childbirth, and almost 50% of the casesofpostpartum psychosis werewomen without any previous psychiatric hospitalization.

They also found that, among women without any previous psychiatric hospitalization, those who had their babies at the age of 35or olderhad a higher risk of getting postpartum psychosis.

Additionally, they found that most of the psychosis cases appeared in the first month after chilbirth, with 32% of the cases being hospitalized within 7 days after birth, and 59% hospitalized within 14 days, reinforcing the fact that postpartum psychosis usually has sudden onset.

Here's another story on this from Science News.

Postpartum psychosis is a rare and dangerous perinatal mood disorderand canfeaturethe following symptoms: