Postpartum mental and physical problems

Acute Postoperative Delirium and Extrapyramidal Signs in a Previously Healthy Parturient

“…This is particularly true for organic psychosis, schizophrenia, and bipolar affective disorders. Such patients are often exquisitely sensitive to CNS drug effects and the stress or disorientation associated with the postoperative or postpartum state (2). There is no indication of a premorbid psychiatric illness in the present patient, although there is a positive family history of schizophrenia in a sibling.…”

“…Its etiology can be multifactorial and is often related to physiologic and pharmacologic alterations occurring in the immediate perioperative period. The postpartum period is the most common time for mental disturbances to occur among women (2). We report an unusual case of acute, profound delirium with associated extrapyramidal signs in a previously healthy woman after an uneventful cesarean section.…”

Policy and disparity: The punishment of infanticide in Britain and America

“…Psychiatrists are not in agreement about the nature or even the existence of postpartum psychoses; but there is a body of literature that describes agitation, confusion, marked disturbance of sleep, hallucinations, vivid and sometimes bizarre delusions, violent behavior, and frequent ''mercurial'' mood shifts among a very small number of women  about 2 per 1,000  in the month after giving birth (d' Orban, 1990;Brockington, et al 1986;Gjerdingen, et al 1986;O'Hara, et al 1984). In fact, seven separate studies conducted on two continents between 1846 and 1975 all agree on the characteristics of the syndrome and/or the incidence of its occurrence (Stern and Kruckman, 1983).…”

“…Other researchers have identified depressive conditions associated with pregnancy that fall clinically short of a psychosis diagnosis but also present some of these symptoms which are frequently associated with the terms ''baby blues,'' ''post-partum depression,'' and ''psychotic depression'' (Hamilton, 1989;Gjerdingen, et al 1986;Kane, 1985;O'Hara, et al 1984). Additionally, an epidemiological study in Scotland in 1987 determined that the likelihood of a woman of childbearing age being admitted to a psychiatric hospital with a diagnosis of psychosis was 22 times higher during the threemonth period after giving birth than in any other comparable period for 2 years before or after (Kendell, et al 1987).…”

Nursing Research Public Policy: Parental Leave

“…Many women have health problems common to the postpartum period, such as fatigue, anemia, breast engorgement, cesarean-section or episiotomy discomfort, uterine cramps, constipation, sexual concerns, hemorrhoids, sleep disturbances, and postpartum depression (Gjerdingen, Froberg, & Wilson, 1986;Reamy & White, 1985;Wolkind, Coleman, & Ghodsian, 1980). Women with preexisting medical conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, and hyper-tension, may experience additional health problems.…”