Postpartum depression and psychosis
Telling blues from postnatal depression and postpartum psychosis, EPDS screening, the organic causes to exclude, SSRIs and breastfeeding, lithium around delivery, and postpartum prophylaxis in bipolar disorder.
Tier 2Condition
Written with AI assistance and fact-checked against the sources below. For exam study, not clinical decisions. How notes are made
At a glance
- Three conditions sit on one spectrum: baby blues (common, self-limiting), postnatal depression (about 1 in 7 mothers), and postpartum psychosis (1 to 2 per 1,000, an emergency).
- Suicide is a leading cause of maternal death in Australia, mostly in the late postnatal period. Ask directly.
- Postpartum psychosis is usually bipolar in nature. A personal or family history of bipolar disorder or a previous puerperal psychosis is the strongest risk factor.
Loading the rest of the note…
Finished reading?
Sources
- Mental Health Care in the Perinatal Period: Australian Clinical Practice GuidelineAU/NZCentre of Perinatal Excellence (COPE), NHMRC approved, 2023 (current; no later revision found, November 2026)
- Therapeutic Guidelines: Psychotropic (perinatal mental health; psychotropics in pregnancy and breastfeeding)AU/NZTherapeutic Guidelines Limited
- The 2020 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for mood disordersAU/NZRANZCP (Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 2021;55:7-117), 2020
- Antenatal and postnatal mental health: clinical management and service guidance (CG192)National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2014, updated 2020
- Risk of postpartum relapse in bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis: a systematic review and meta-analysisWesseloo R et al. Am J Psychiatry 2016;173:117-27, 2016
- Lithium use in pregnancy and the risk of cardiac malformationsPatorno E et al. N Engl J Med 2017;376:2245-54, 2017
- Updated guidelines for pharmacologic treatment of perinatal depression (review of ACOG 2023 guidance and zuranolone update)Cleve Clin J Med 2026, 2026
- Last updated
- 14 November 2026
What changed
- 14 November 2026 Turnstile bot check on sign-in and signed-out feedback