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Chapters

0:00 Introduction
0:35 Symptoms of Postpartum Depression
1:07 Treatment for Postpartum Depression
1:35 Medications for Postpartum Depression
1:59 Self care
2:13 Cognitive behavioural therapy




Postpartum depression (PPD), also called postnatal depression, is a type of mood disorder associated with childbirth, which can affect both sexes.[1][3] Symptoms may include extreme sadness, low energy, anxiety, crying episodes, irritability, and changes in sleeping or eating patterns.[1] Onset is typically between one week and one month following childbirth.[1] PPD can also negatively affect the newborn child.[4][2]

While the exact cause of PPD is unclear, the cause is believed to be a combination of physical, emotional, genetic, and social factors.[1][5] These may include factors such as hormonal changes and sleep deprivation.[1][6] 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.[1] Diagnosis is based on a person's symptoms.[2] 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.[1]

Among those at risk, providing psychosocial support may be protective in preventing PPD.[7] This may include community support such as food, household chores, mother care, and companionship.[8] Treatment for PPD may include counseling or medications.[2] Types of counseling that have been found to be effective include interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and psychodynamic therapy.[2] Tentative evidence supports the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).[2]

Postpartum depression affects roughly 15% of women after childbirth.[9][10] Moreover, this mood disorder is estimated to affect 1% to 26% of new fathers.[3] Postpartum psychosis, a more severe form of postpartum mood disorder, occurs in about 1 to 2 per 1,000 women following childbirth.[11] 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.[12]