Summary
A random sample of 401 maternity hospital patients were interviewed in hospital after confinement and again five to six weeks later. Questionnaires were completed recording obstetrical and social factors and the presence of psychiatric symptoms at any stage of pregnancy or the puerperium. Patients with puerperal symtoms were compared with controls. There was evidence that psychiatric morbidity in the puerperium is related to interpersonal and social stresses of various sorts but is not connected with obstetrical stresses. In this stduy, there was no case of severe psychosis and all the puerperal psychiatric illness could be termed “atypical depression”. Possible areas for further research are considered.
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Martin, M.E. A maternity hospital study of psychiatric illness associated with childbirth. Ir J Med Sci 146, 239–244 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03030966
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03030966