As many as 85 percent of women have some type of postpartum mental ill
ness. Puerperal mental difficulties may have an adverse effect on the
relationship between a mother and her newborn. The three categories of
postpartum mental illness are the ''blues,'' depression and psychosis
. Postpartum blues is a mild, transient disorder that may be a variant
of normal maternal behavior following delivery. Depression and psycho
sis in the postpartum period cannot clearly be distinguished from the
same disorders occurring at other times of life, but they respond to t
raditional modes of therapy.