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Risk and childbirth in psychiatry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Margaret Oates
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The relationship between childbirth and serious mental illness has been known since the time of Ancient Greece. It was first described in the psychiatric literature by Esquirol and later by his pupil Marcé in 1857. A substantial number of women become mentally ill, often for the first time, following childbirth. There are few events associated with such a measurable and predictable risk to mental health as childbirth, with its nine months warning. Despite this, there is little awareness amongst general psychiatrists of the predictable and manageable risk that faces many of their female patients should they become pregnant, nor of the risks that mentally ill mothers may pose for their children.

Type
Research Article
Information
Advances in Psychiatric Treatment , Volume 1 , Issue 5 , May 1995 , pp. 146 - 153
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 1995 

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