The maternal nurse educator is conducting a presentation for antepartum patients describing the identification and care of women diagnosed with postpartum psychiatric disorders

Question

Which information should the maternal nurse educator include in her teaching content?
1. Postpartum depression occurs in as many as 50% to 70% of mothers and is characterized by mild depression interspersed with happier feelings.
2. Postpartum depression is typically mild and usually self-limiting, lasting up to 6 weeks.
3. Even if she is asymptomatic, a woman with a history of postpartum depression should be referred to a mental health professional for counseling and biweekly visits postpartum.
4. Women with postpartum depression have a history of exposure to an extremely traumatic personal event that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury and evokes intense fear, helplessness, or horror.

Answer 1

Correct Answer: 3
Rationale 1: As many as 50% to 70% of mothers develop adjustment reaction with depressed mood, which is also known as postpartum blues, or as maternal or baby blues. Unlike postpartum depression, this condition is characterized by mild depression interspersed with happier feelings.
Rationale 2: Postpartum blues typically manifest as mild symptoms that are transient and self-limiting. Postpartum depression is severe and poses major threats to the woman and the infant, as well as to the father/partner.
Rationale 3: Women with a history of postpartum psychosis or depression or other risk factors should be referred to a mental health professional for counseling and biweekly visits between the second and sixth week postpartum for evaluation.
Rationale 4: Post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD (also called post-traumatic stress syndrome) is associated with exposure to an extremely traumatic event involving direct personal experience with actual or threatened death or serious injury, and evokes a reaction of intense fear, helplessness, or horror.