All new mothers are somewhat anxious. Being a mother is a new role, a new job, with a new person in your life and new responsibilities. Anxiety in response to this situation is very common and somewhat adaptive. However, for several reasons, some mothers have excessive worries and experience a severe (and invalidating) level of anxiety in perinatal period. Important gonadal steroid levels modif...

Transition to parenthood represents an important life event increasing vulnerability to psychological disorders. Postpartum depression and parenting distress are the most common psychological disturbances and a growing scientific evidence suggests that both mothers and fathers are involved in this developmental crisis. This paper aims to explore maternal and paternal experience of transition to...

BACKGROUND Breastfeeding has been reported to reduce the risk of postpartum anxiety and depression. However, little is known of the effects of breastfeeding on hospital admissions for postpartum mental disorders. MATERIALS AND METHODS This is a population-based longitudinal cohort study using linked data. All mothers who gave birth to a live infant between 2007 and 2008 in New South Wales, Au...

BACKGROUND Applications of mindfulness during the perinatal period have recently been explored and appear to offer a decrease in stress, anxiety and depression during this period. However, it still remains unclear what practical use women make of mindfulness during the postpartum period and the mechanisms through which it works. The subjective experience of mindfulness practice by mothers is no...

Postpartum nonpsychotic depression is the most common complication of childbearing, affecting approximately 10-15% of women and, as such, represents a considerable health problem affecting women and their families. This systematic review provides a synthesis of the recent literature pertaining to antenatal risk factors associated with developing this condition. Databases relating to the medical...