POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER AFTER CHILDBIRTH - A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

The prevalence of having a posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) profil e after childbirth and women's cognitive appraisal of the childbirth w ere studied cross sectionally in an unselected sample of all women who had given birth over a 1-year period in Linkoping, Sweden. The PTSD p rofile was assessed by means of Traumatic Event Scale (TES), which is based on diagnostic criteria from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Associ ation, 1994). The women's cognitive appraisal of the childbirth was me asured by means of the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionna ire (W-DEQ). Twenty-eight women (1.7%) of 1640 met criteria for a PTSD profile related to the recent delivery. A PTSD profile was related to a history of having received psychiatric/psychological counseling, a negative cognitive appraisal of the past delivery, nulliparity, and ra ting the contact with delivery staff in negative terms. (C) 1997 Elsev ier Science Ltd.