Psychiatric Disorders during Pregnancy and Postpartum

Pregnancy is the most beautiful and memorable time in a woman’s life. Apart from medical and obstetrical challenges it involves a of lot emotional, psychological and social aspects too. Although women having medical and obstetrical disorders commonly seek treatment, psychological problems are often not addressed. A female may continue to live in a state of emotional turmoil and may attribute these changes to the hormonal changes in the body due to pregnancy. Psychiatric disorders which remain untreated can disrupt the social life and can have undesirable effects on fetal and neonatal development, so it becomes important to identify women at risk for developing psychiatric disorders during pregnancy and postpartum and initiate timely management. Although the American College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology recommended strongly considering screening pregnant women for depression in 2006, it is not done as a routine. Recently we came across two interesting cases of ante partum and post-partum mental disorders. Which led us to write a review article on Psychiatric disorders in pregnancy? Let’s review the two cases in brief.