{
  "release_id": "c7fb95f1d15a7d13",
  "id": "maternal:postpartum-psychosis",
  "owner": "maternal",
  "kind": "condition",
  "slug": "postpartum-psychosis",
  "name": "Postpartum psychosis (mother)",
  "aliases": [],
  "atlases": [
    "maternal"
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  "summary_plain": "A rare, serious illness after childbirth in which a woman may have delusions, hallucinations, mania, paranoia and confusion. NIMH calls it a psychiatric emergency that requires hospital care, and says a woman with these symptoms should seek immediate help by calling 911 or going to the nearest emergency room. Recovery is possible with professional help.",
  "summary_technical": "A 2016 review (American Journal of Psychiatry) reports first-lifetime onset in 0.25 to 0.6 per 1,000 births in register studies of psychiatric admissions, with 20% to 50% of women having isolated postpartum psychosis and the rest having episodes outside the perinatal period, usually within the bipolar spectrum (see the claim on this page). The review says the evidence on treatment is sparse, so the atlas records no treatment claim. NIMH and MedlinePlus both describe it as an emergency. It is a different condition from postpartum depression, and both sit under perinatal mental health. The recipient is the postpartum woman.",
  "editorial_state": "draft",
  "last_substantive_edit": "2026-10-14",
  "last_evidence_check": "2026-10-14",
  "next_review_due": null,
  "identifiers": [],
  "navigation": {
    "maternal": {
      "life-stage": [
        "postpartum"
      ],
      "care-area": [
        "maternal-mental-health"
      ]
    }
  },
  "payload": {
    "recognition": "NIMH says women with postpartum psychosis may have delusions, hallucinations, mania, paranoia and confusion. MedlinePlus lists confusion, hallucinations or dangerous behaviours.",
    "assessment": null,
    "burden_claims": [
      "maternal:claim-postpartum-psychosis-incidence-and-relapse"
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    {
      "release_id": "c7fb95f1d15a7d13",
      "id": "maternal:claim-postpartum-psychosis-incidence-and-relapse",
      "owner": "maternal",
      "subject_entity_id": "maternal:postpartum-psychosis",
      "category": "burden",
      "statement": "A 2016 review in the American Journal of Psychiatry describes psychosis or mania after childbirth as a psychiatric emergency with risk for suicide and infanticide. It reports that first-lifetime onset postpartum psychosis or mania, counted from population-based register studies of psychiatric admissions, occurs in 0.25 to 0.6 per 1,000 births. After an incipient episode, 20% to 50% of women have isolated postpartum psychosis, and the remaining women have episodes outside the perinatal period, usually within the bipolar spectrum. For women with isolated postpartum psychosis, the relapse risk after a subsequent pregnancy is 31% (95% CI 22 to 42). The review says inpatient care is usually required.",
      "context": {
        "id": "maternal:ctx-women-after-childbirth-postpartum-psychosis",
        "label": "Women after childbirth: postpartum psychosis (review of register and clinical studies, 2016)",
        "recipient": "maternal",
        "population": "Women after childbirth. The incidence figures come from population-based register studies of psychiatric admissions for first-lifetime onset postpartum psychosis or mania. The relapse figure is for women with isolated postpartum psychosis in a subsequent pregnancy.",
        "care_setting": "Register studies of psychiatric admissions; inpatient care is usually needed (review abstract).",
        "geography": "Not stated in the abstract",
        "life_stage_note": "Postpartum, after childbirth",
        "life_stage_terms": {
          "maternal": [
            "postpartum"
          ]
        },
        "gestational_age_min_days": null,
        "gestational_age_max_days": null,
        "gestational_age_basis": null,
        "postnatal_age_min_days": null,
        "postnatal_age_max_days": null,
        "gestational_age_status": null,
        "postnatal_age_status": null,
        "followup_description": "Relapse risk after a subsequent pregnancy (review abstract).",
        "eligibility": {
          "inclusion": [
            "Women with first-lifetime onset postpartum psychosis or mania, or with isolated postpartum psychosis"
          ],
          "exclusion": [
            "Not stated in the abstract"
          ]
        }
      },
      "evidence_stage": "synthesis",
      "certainty": "not_assessed",
      "certainty_method": null,
      "limitations": "This is a narrative review and the atlas read only its PubMed abstract. The incidence range comes from register studies of psychiatric admissions, so women who were not admitted are not counted. The review says fewer than 30 publications have focused on treatment; the largest study (N=64) suggested lithium is highly efficacious, and another report (N=34) described successful electroconvulsive therapy. These are small studies, and the abstract gives no controlled comparison, so the atlas makes no treatment claim. The abstract does not name the countries of the register studies.",
      "editorial_state": "draft",
      "checked_at": "2026-10-14",
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  ],
  "decisions": [],
  "milestones": [],
  "relationships": {
    "outgoing": [
      {
        "predicate": "related_to",
        "label": "A different condition; both belong to perinatal mental health",
        "clinical_claim_not_fact": false,
        "family": "navigation",
        "other_entity_id": "maternal:perinatal-depression",
        "other_entity_in_atlas": true,
        "claim_id": null,
        "evidence": null,
        "primary": false,
        "role": null,
        "valid_from": null,
        "valid_to": null
      },
      {
        "predicate": "part_of",
        "label": "Filed under this front",
        "clinical_claim_not_fact": false,
        "family": "navigation",
        "other_entity_id": "maternal:front-mental-health-and-support",
        "other_entity_in_atlas": true,
        "claim_id": null,
        "evidence": null,
        "primary": true,
        "role": null,
        "valid_from": null,
        "valid_to": null
      }
    ],
    "incoming": []
  },
  "page_path": "conditions/postpartum-psychosis/",
  "context_path": "api/v1/context/maternal--postpartum-psychosis.md"
}