Postpartum depression on the neonatal intensive care unit: current perspectives

Noor N Tahirkheli; Amanda S Cherry; Alayna P Tackett; Mary Anne McCaffree; Stephen R Gillaspy

doi:10.2147/IJWH.S54666

Postpartum depression on the neonatal intensive care unit: current perspectives

Int J Womens Health. 2014 Nov 24:6:975-87. doi: 10.2147/IJWH.S54666. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Noor N Tahirkheli¹, Amanda S Cherry¹, Alayna P Tackett², Mary Anne McCaffree³, Stephen R Gillaspy¹

Affiliations

¹ Section of General and Community Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
² Department of Psychology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA.
³ Section of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.

Abstract

As the most common complication of childbirth affecting 10%-15% of women, postpartum depression (PPD) goes vastly undetected and untreated, inflicting long-term consequences on both mother and child. Studies consistently show that mothers of infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) experience PPD at higher rates with more elevated symptomatology than mothers of healthy infants. Although there has been increased awareness regarding the overall prevalence of PPD and recognition of the need for health care providers to address this health issue, there has not been adequate attention to PPD in the context of the NICU. This review will focus on an overview of PPD and psychological morbidities, the prevalence of PPD in mothers of infants admitted to NICU, associated risk factors, potential PPD screening measures, promising intervention programs, the role of NICU health care providers in addressing PPD in the NICU, and suggested future research directions.

Keywords: mothers; neonatal intensive care unit; postpartum depression.

Publication types

Review