First-time Moms Prone to Postnatal Psychosis
Reported February 10, 2009
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new study shows first-time mothers are at the
greatest risk of developing psychosis in the month following the birth of their
child even if they have never been hospitalized for mental illness.
Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm conducted the study. They
looked at first-time mother data collected between 1993 and 2000. The scientists
found 1.2 cases for every 1,000 births involved a mother who had been admitted
to a hospital for psychosis within 90 days of giving birth. Researchers also
established the risk of psychosis increased with maternal age.
While it can be common for mothers to have postnatal depression following
childbirth, psychotic illness is rare. The causes of psychosis after delivery
are not well understood. Psychotic illness involves episodes where someone
cannot distinguish between reality and their imagination.
SOURCE: PLoS Medicine, February 2009 |