Published 8 August 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a736
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a736

Clinical Review

Management of postnatal depression

¹ East London NHS Foundation Trust, City and Hackney Centre for Mental Health, London E9 6SR, ² Department of Psychological Medicine, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff CF14 4XN

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Postnatal depression occurs after 13% of births A previous history of postnatal depression or of any mental illness, poor social support, and depression during the pregnancy all increase the risk of developing the illness Postnatal depression needs to be identified and treated promptly and adequately because it can result in a range of lasting adverse outcomes for mother and child A range of psychological therapies is effective in treating postnatal depression Drugs are also effective and some antidepressants are thought to be safer in breastfeeding mothers than others Drugs are recommended for women who decline psychological therapy, or for whom there would be an unacceptable delay in providing non-pharmacological measures

Depression is common in the postpartum period. It can be severe and may have serious consequences for the woman and her child (figure). The term postnatal depression, however, is often applied indiscriminately to all occurrences of psychological distress after . . . [Full text of this article]

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