DOI: 10.1097/NMD.0000000000000709

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Issn Print: 0022-3018

Publication Date: 2017/06/01


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Modern Management of Perinatal Psychiatric Disorders, Second Edition.: Carol Henshaw, MB, ChB, MD, FRCPsych, John Cox, BM, BChDM, FRCPsych, FRCP, and Joanne Barton, MB, ChB, PhD, MRCP (2017) London, UK

Pedro Ruiz

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Excerpt

The content of this book is composed of 11 sections as follows: 1) Historical Perspectives and Classification; 2) Perinatal Depression, Anxiety, Stress and Adjustment; 3) Puerperal Psychosis; 4) Childbearing in Women With Existing Mental Disorders; 5) Substance Misuse; 6) Perinatal Mental Illness, Children, and the Family; 7) Screening and Prevention; 8) Physical Treatments During Pregnancy; 9) Physical Treatments and Breastfeeding; 10) Service Provision; and 11) Perinatal Psychiatry in Multiethnic Societies. This book also offers three appendixes as follows: 1) Organizations Offering Support and Information; 2) Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; and 3) Resources.
The three authors, Carol Henshaw, John Cox, and Joanne Barton, have a long and dedicated commitment to the care of children and adolescents. Carol Henshaw was a consultant in perinatal mental health at Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust, honorary senior lecturer at the University of Liverpool, and a visiting fellow at Staffordshire University until her retirement in 2016. John Cox is emeritus professor of psychiatry at Keel University, Staffordshire, and past president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, as well as former secretary general of the World Psychiatric Association. Joanne Barton is a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist at North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust.
The three authors of this book had the impetus to write this book over 5 years ago because clinicians, researchers, and educators realized the need of psychiatrists, general practitioners and obstetricians, psychologists, nurses, and professionals at large vis-à-vis the diagnosis and management of perinatal mental disorders. Obviously, this book is a testament to the increasing recognition that maternal mental health problems are the core business of both psychiatry and maternity care in accordance to its authors.
The need for specialized perinatal services at large is clearly demonstrated because of mothers who become psychotic after delivery or develop affective disorders, recumbent of bipolar disorders, and many other mental health conditions, including suicide, that can affect not only women upon delivery but also their children. It is noteworthy that most maternal suicides happen among older, married and/or stable cohabitation, employed, and educated women. In accordance to the recommendations of the United Kingdom: “Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Death,” women should be asked at the early pregnancy assessment for a previous psychiatric history, and those women with a positive history of serious mental illness should have plan in place for the management of the risk of suicide. In addition, “it is suggested that all women with serious mental illness in late pregnancy and the postpartum period should be managed by specialized perinatal psychiatric teams and, if admission is necessary, be admitted to a specialized ‘mother and baby unit’.”
In summary, I found this book of excellent value for the management of perinatal psychiatric disorders, and thus, I congratulate the three authors, Carol Henshaw, John Cox, and Joanne Barton, for their excellent book, as well as contributions on the topic of perinatal psychiatric disorders.
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