Postpartum depression is a mood disorder that can affect women after childbirth. Mothers with postpartum depression experience feelings of extreme sadness, anxiety, and exhaustion that may make it difficult for them to complete daily care activities for themselves or for others.

Only a health care provider can diagnose a woman with postpartum depression. Because symptoms of this condition are broad and may vary between women, a health care provider can help a woman figure out whether the symptoms she is feeling are due to postpartum depression or something else. A woman who experiences any of these symptoms should see a health care provider right away.

Baby Blues

• Affects 80 percent of new mothers
• Occurs between the third day and second or third week postpartum
• Is considered NORMAL
• Mild symptoms. Lasts 1-2 weeks and goes away on its own
• Indicators: crying for no reason; feelings of dependency, impatience, irritability, anxiety; temporary mild depression

Postpartum Depression

• Affects 15- 20 percent of new mothers
• Occurs anytime up to a year postpartum
• Lasts for at least two weeks
• It is critical that family members seek help for their loved one.
• Indicators: physical complaints without physical cause; changes in appetite or weight; sleeping too much or too little; l loss of interest in activities; irritability or short temper; feelings of anxiety, worthlessness, guilt, anger, sadness, hopelessness, overwhelmed; difficulty in concentrating; extreme worry about the baby’s and/or the mother’s own health; recurring thoughts of death or suicidal ideation.

Postpartum Onset Anxiety/Panic Disorder

• Affects 10 percent of new mothers
• Indicators: panic attacks (sudden episodes of extreme anxiety or fear, accompanied by accelerated breathing and heart rate, constriction in chest and throat, chest pain); nausea, hot or cold flashes, trembling; fear of losing control, of going crazy, of dying

Postpartum Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder

• Affects 3-5 percent of new mothers
• Often occurs with postpartum depression
• Mother is not at risk of actually harming baby, except by neglect or avoidance based on fear of causing harm
• Indicators: repetitive, intrusive thoughts and violent images of harming baby; awareness that thoughts are irrational.with a sense of horror and shame about them; hyper-vigilance in protecting baby; repetitive behaviors such as counting, checking, frequent hand-washing, obsessive neatness

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

• Affects 1-3 percent of new mothers
• Occurs following childbirth, especially in women who experienced ad history of childhood abuse and/or had a traumatic childbirth experience
• Indicators: extreme anxiety; persistent re-experiencing of traumatic events; avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma; numbness; hyper-arousal, insomnia, jumpiness and heightened startle response; nightmares

Postpartum Psychosis

• Affects 0.1-0.2 percent of new mothers
• Occurs usually in the first week postpartum, with sudden onset
• Risk of suicide and/or infanticide
• Indicators: rapid speech; visual or auditory hallucinations, delusions, delirium, mania, extreme agitation, inability to sleep, irrational speech or paranoia.

PPP is a medical emergency for which aggressive treatment is critical.