Introduction

Abstract

The prospect of having a baby is met with eager anticipation by most women and families. Children bring great joy to the lives of families and often represent a major source of life fulfillment for women. Unfortunately, for some women the postpartum period is a time of great difficulty and emotional distress. An emotional disturbance, often depression, may significantly reduce the pleasure a woman experiences in mothering; it may even interfere with the development of a positive mother-child relationship. Such emotional disturbances may be longstanding in the individual, or they may develop suddenly after delivery. They may be mild and brief in duration, or they may be severe and persist for months or years. As a group, these emotional disturbances have often been called postpartum depression. However, it has been common to divide emotional disturbances in the postpartum period into three groups that are differentiated largely on the basis of severity: (1) postpartum blues, (2) postpartum depression, and (3) postpartum psychosis.