Study: There’s Hope For Mums With Post-Partum Psychosis

A study has revealed that with the right medical intervention, women who suffer from post-partum psychosis can recover well and can take care of their children independently.

Although rare, post-partum psychosis is an extremely debilitating psychiatric emergency wherein the mother can completely lose�touch with reality, suffer delusions and hallucinations, and is nearly always required to protect the mother and her baby.

It is also distinctly different to postnatal depression.

In a five-year�study conducted�at the mother-baby unit of Helen Mayo House in South Australia, it was revealed that with proper treatment, all the women admitted between 2012 and 2016 have made a full�recovery from post-partum psychosis and went on to independently care for their baby�after discharge.

Dr�Rebecca Hill from the Women’s and Children’s Health Network in Adelaide said that all patients�received antipsychotic medication and one-on-one nursing care, while a few required�lithium, a mood stabiliser.�She added that most importantly, the situation where there will be weeks of separation between the mother and baby was avoided.�”On the whole, mothers made a complete recovery and did so within weeks. The average�length of stay was about three weeks,” she�told AAP.

She also said that breastfeeding was preserved during the conduct of the study.�”Amazingly, breastfeeding�rates were highly preserved, with 77 per cent of women still breastfeeding at the�time of discharge,” she said.

Dr Hill also said that the study provides strong�hope for sufferers and their families.�”Although it’s a shocking and terrible condition that no one would want, there is�extremely effective treatment so that women can make a recovery quite quickly and�return to normal life,” she said.

The study will be presented at The Royal Australian�and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Annual Congress next week.

If you feel that you might need help or would like some more information on Post Natal Depression or Post-partum Psychosis, please contact PANDA or Beyond Blue or see your doctor.

Source:�Kidspot.com.au

Clare Whitfield Chief Editor

Clare Whitfield is the Editor of Stay at Home Mum and a recognised voice in practical home management for Australian families. Based in the northern suburbs of Sydney, she balances editorial leadership with life as a stay at home mum to two school age children. Her background in home economics and more than a decade of experience in recipe development, family budgeting, and household systems inform her work.

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