THERE HAS BEEN a lot of media coverage in recent weeks about postpartum psychosis, on the back of the Lindsay Clancy murder trial in the US. It is a difficult topic to discuss because it plays into fears people may have about its potential consequences – even those which are newsworthy partly because they are so rare.

The months around childbirth are already a time of significant biological and psychological change. Stories about mental illness in this context can be stigmatising and deeply worrying for new mothers, pregnant women and those of childbearing age, along with their partners and families. Our intention here is to look compassionately beyond the media drama and provide accurate, useful information on postpartum psychosis itself. We have provided helpful resources at the end.

No new mother should ever be afraid to say that she is not feeling well, and this is no less true when it comes to her mental health. But it is especially the case with postpartum psychosis because it represents an uncommon psychiatric emergency that requires assessment, care and treatment very quickly. This treatment is usually very effective and full recovery is the norm.

What is this condition?

So, what exactly is postpartum psychosis? Sometimes referred to as “puerperal psychosis”, it is a severe psychotic illness that begins suddenly in the days or weeks following childbirth.

It affects approximately 1-2 women per 1,000 births. But to understand it properly, we must first say what “psychosis” itself is. Here, we have a collection of symptoms in which a person becomes detached from reality. These symptoms include hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not there, for example, hearing voices), delusions (fervently believing things you do not normally believe, for example, marked paranoia) and thought disorder (in which your........

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