POSTPARTUM BLUES - A CLINICAL SYNDROME AND PREDICTOR OF POSTNATAL DEPRESSION

Although the obstetricians have been aware of puerperal psychiatric ev ents, atypical postnatal depression was only identified during the 196 0s. Early screening is therefore required to enable preventive measure s to be taken. Our prospective study was intended to uncover early sig ns of or a predisposition towards, postnatal depression before postpar tum discharge from the hospital. Studying a population of 186 women wh o had just given birth and using two tools, the self-administered ques tionnaires designed by Pitt and by Cox, we found a relationship betwee n postpartum blues, evaluated with Pitt's tool on the 3rd day after de livery, and postnatal depression, evaluated 8 months later: We thus sh ow that the postpartum bh,es, evaluated with Pitt's tool, especially w hen severe, is predictive of the subsequent development of postnatal d epression.