What causes postnatal depression?

Find out more about the impact of psychological problems during the perinatal period.

Death from psychiatric causes has been the leading cause of maternal death for the last few years. Midwives need to be able to detect women with current mental health problems and those at high risk of a serious mental illness following delivery, in order to improve the care and support offered to them throughout their contact with maternity services.

In order to screen systematically and sensitively, and to enable them to refer on appropriately, midwives need to understand why they are asking questions about mental health; how to encourage women to disclose past and current problems; what the risks of recurrence and relapse are; and what services are available in their area of practice.

In this Perinatal Depression Supplement, British Journal of Midwifery looks at key areas of this topic. These are just a few of the issues addressed in this supplement published by BJM:

• What causes depression and anxiety in the antenatal period?
• Are midwives able to detect antenatal depression?
• How can midwives recognize mental illness?
• Is it possible to predict those women who will suffer from postnatal depression?
• How can midwives prepare parents for childbirth using mindfulness meditation?

Do not miss out on this exclusive Perinatal Depression Supplement brought to you by British Journal of Midwifery, the leading clinical journal for midwives. Published each month, the journal is written by midwives for midwives and peer reviewed by some of the foremost authorities in the profession. It contains the best clinical reviews, original research and evidence-based articles, ensuring that midwives are kept fully up-to-date with the latest developments taking place in clinical practice.