Are prenatal, obstetric, and infant complications associated with postpartum psychosis among women with pre-conception psychiatric hospitalisations?

Postpartum Psychosis: A Proposed Treatment Algorithm

Background

Postpartum psychosis (PPP) is a psychiatric emergency that generally warrants acute inpatient care. PPP is marked by the sudden onset of affective and psychotic symptoms with a rapid deterioration in mental state. Evidence suggests that PPP is a discrete disorder on the bipolar disorder spectrum with a distinct treatment profile and prognosis.

Methods

We conducted a PubMed database search for various terms involving PPP and its treatment and included peer-reviewed articles published in English.

Objective

To provide a treatment algorithm for the management of PPP based on available evidence.

Results

Pharmacological therapy is the mainstay of PPP management in the acute phase. Evidence points to a combination of antipsychotics and lithium in the acute treatment of PPP. Electroconvulsive therapy can offer a rapid treatment response where required. Lithium appears to have the best evidence for relapse prevention and prophylaxis in PPP. Psychoeducation is essential and psychosocial interventions used in bipolar disorder may be effective in PPP.

Conclusion

Early detection and prompt treatment with antipsychotics and lithium, followed by maintenance treatment with lithium, is associated with a favourable prognosis in PPP.Reprinted from J Psychopharmacol 2023; 37:960-970, with permission from Sage Journals. Copyright © 2023.

Postpartum psychosis: A proposed treatment algorithm

BACKGROUND

Postpartum psychosis (PPP) is a psychiatric emergency that generally warrants acute inpatient care. PPP is marked by the sudden onset of affective and psychotic symptoms with a rapid deterioration in mental state. Evidence suggests that PPP is a discrete disorder on the bipolar disorder spectrum with a distinct treatment profile and prognosis.

METHODS

We conducted a PubMed database search for various terms involving PPP and its treatment and included peer-reviewed articles published in English.

OBJECTIVE

To provide a treatment algorithm for the management of PPP based on available evidence.

RESULTS

Pharmacological therapy is the mainstay of PPP management in the acute phase. Evidence points to a combination of antipsychotics and lithium in the acute treatment of PPP. Electroconvulsive therapy can offer a rapid treatment response where required. Lithium appears to have the best evidence for relapse prevention and prophylaxis in PPP. Psychoeducation is essential and psychosocial interventions used in bipolar disorder may be effective in PPP.

CONCLUSION

Early detection and prompt treatment with antipsychotics and lithium, followed by maintenance treatment with lithium, is associated with a favourable prognosis in PPP.

Postpartum Psychosis: The Role of Women's Health Care Providers and the Health Care System

Importance

The postpartum period is a time of high risk for serious psychiatric symptoms and hospitalization. Postpartum psychosis (PPP) is the most severe disorder that emerges during this time, with significant and wide-ranging consequences that can include suicide and infanticide.

Evidence Acquisition

A PubMed, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO search was completed for English-language publications about PPP, including subtopics (eg, infanticide, maternal suicide). Citations in these articles were also reviewed for relevant references.

Results

Although it is clear that the triggering event for PPP is childbirth, the processes by which this occurs are not fully understood, which is a critical need for being able to predict, prevent, and manage PPP. There are risk factors that contribute to PPP, and specific groups of women may be at increased risk (eg, women with bipolar disorder). Many questions and challenges remain related to the phenomenology, nosology, prevention, and treatment of PPP. However, there are changes that women's health care providers and systems can take to improve the care of women at risk of and experiencing PPP.

Results

Of the 1382 articles reviewed, 8 met eligibility criteria, representing 6 distinct cohorts and 726 subjects. Synthetic slings available for review were either tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) or minisling. The vast majority of studies demonstrated similar short- and long-term success rates of AFS and SS procedures utilizing a range of outcome measures. Both AFS and TVT sling had low recurrence rates in short- and long-term follow-up. However, AFS had significantly longer operative time, and longer hospital stay. Bladder perforation, on the other hand, occurred more commonly in TVT sling. Health-related quality-of-life scores, including sexual function, were similar between groups.

Conclusions and Relevance

Postpartum psychosis is a rare but serious condition. However, recovery is possible. Women's health care providers and systems can improve the care by better understanding the needs of women and families, offering patient-centered discussions and options for care, particularly those that promote recovery, minimize risk, and limit the interruption of the maternal-infant bond. Improving the prevention and treatment of PPP can have a broad impact for women, children, and families.

Postpartum Psychosis after Traumatic Cesarean Delivery

An emergency cesarean delivery can be a traumatic childbirth experience for a woman and a risk factor for postpartum psychosis, especially in a patient with a history of bipolar disorder. This article describes the case of a pregnant woman with an unknown history of bipolar disorder who developed an acute psychotic reaction during the procedure of an emergency caesarian section and switched to mania. The purpose of this case study is for perinatal health care professionals to identify suspicious symptoms and promptly refer to psychiatric services so as to ensure the mother's and the newborn's safety. This case study highlights the importance of assessing women with bipolar disorder or a previous psychotic episode for the risk of psychiatric complications in pregnancy and after childbirth. Midwifery education on perinatal mental health is crucial for the detection of suspicious symptoms and early referral to a specialist.

Maternal bereavement shortly before or during pregnancy and risk of postpartum psychotic illness: a population-based study from Denmark and Sweden

Purpose: Postpartum psychosis is a rare but severe complication following childbirth, with unknown etiology. This study investigated whether the death of a close family member — a source of severe stress — the year before or during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of psychotic illness in the postpartum period among women without and with a history of psychiatric disorder.

Methods: We studied live births in Denmark during 1978–2008 and births in Sweden during 1973–2006 (n=5,246,978). Information on death of women’s relatives and partners and sociodemographic, health-, and pregnancy-related factors was obtained through linkage with nationwide registries.

Results: The death of a close relative the year before or during pregnancy was not associated with psychotic illness during the first 90 days postpartum among women without (adjusted HR 1.02, 95% CI 0.76–1.37) or with a history of psychiatric disorder (HR 0.96, 95% CI 0.74–1.25). Similarly, there was no association between bereavement and risk of postpartum psychosis according to the timing of the loss (the year before or during pregnancy), the relative’s cause of death (natural or unnatural), or the woman’s relationship to the deceased (parent/sibling or partner/older child).

Conclusions: Death of a close relative, one of the most severe sources of stress, before or during pregnancy was not associated with postpartum psychosis. Therefore, these data do not support the hypothesis that severely stressful life events, such as bereavement around the time of pregnancy, are associated with postpartum psychosis.

Adverse childhood life events and postpartum psychosis in bipolar disorder

BACKGROUND

Women with bipolar disorder are at increased risk of postpartum psychosis. Adverse childhood life events have been associated with depression in the postpartum period, but have been little studied in relation to postpartum psychosis. In this study we investigated whether adverse childhood life events are associated with postpartum psychosis in a large sample of women with bipolar I disorder.

METHODS

Participants were 432 parous women with DSM-IV bipolar I disorder recruited into the Bipolar Disorder Research Network (www.BDRN.org). Diagnoses and lifetime psychopathology, including perinatal episodes, were obtained via a semi-structured interview (Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry; Wing et al., 1990) and case-notes. Adverse childhood life events were assessed via self-report and case-notes, and compared between women with postpartum psychosis (n=208) and those without a lifetime history of perinatal mood episodes (n=224).

RESULTS

There was no significant difference in the rate of any adverse childhood life event, including childhood sexual abuse, or in the total number of adverse childhood life events between women who experienced postpartum psychosis and those without a lifetime history of perinatal mood episodes, even after controlling for demographic and clinical differences between the groups.

LIMITATIONS

Adverse childhood life events were assessed in adulthood and therefore may be subject to recall errors.

CONCLUSIONS

We found no evidence for an association between adverse childhood life events and the occurrence of postpartum psychosis. Our data suggest that, unlike postpartum depression, childhood adversity does not play a significant role in the triggering of postpartum psychosis in women with bipolar disorder.

Assessment and Care of Childbearing Women With Severe and Persistent Mental Illness

Severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) refers to complex mood disorders that include major depressive disorder with or without psychosis; severe anxiety disorders resistant to treatment; affective psychotic disorders including bipolar affective disorder, schizophrenia, and schizoaffective disorder; and other nonaffective subtypes of schizophrenia. SPMIs affect 1 in 17 people and are among the leading causes of disability and impaired health-related quality of life in the United States. Caring for childbearing women with preexisting SPMI can be challenging for maternal-child health clinicians. This article provides an overview of SPMI during pregnancy and challenges for clinicians, including early identification, accuracy of diagnoses, and appropriate management through care coordination among an interdisciplinary team that includes obstetric providers, psychiatrists, nurses, and others.

Postpartum psychosis: risk factors identification

BACKGROUND

A better understanding of risk factors associated with postpartum psychosis may contribute to the better management.

AIMS

This study was to identify the risk factors contributing to postpartum psychosis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this cross-sectional, case control study 100 patients of postpartum psychosis (PP) were compared with the healthy controls. Risk factors explored were sociodemographic factors (age, education, occupation, income, and family type); positive family history; pregnancy and perinatal factors (number of antenatal check-up, parity, and complications during pregnancy, perinatal phase or in newborn); and presence of husband during peripartum period. Data were analyzed by graph pad instat software using chi square test and Fisher's exact test.

RESULTS

Total of 64% patients and 42% controls were less than 25 years of age (P = 0.001). Among the patients, 62% were primiparae compared with 46% in the controls (P = 0.02). Per capita family income was less than 5000 INR in 72% patients and 56% controls (P = 0.01). Maternal complications during perinatal period were observed in 38% patients and 22% controls (P = 0.01), while the complications in newborns were seen in 21% patients and 8% controls (P = 0.009). Husband was present in 58% patients and 76% controls. (P = 0.006).

CONCLUSIONS

The risk factors related to PP were younger age, lower per capita income, perinatal and neonatal complications, and absence of husband in peripartum phase.