POSTPARTUM BLUES AND MILD DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMATOLOGY AT DAY-3 AND DAY-5 AFTER DELIVERY - A FRENCH CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

This cross-sectional work studies the prevalence of post-partum blues on days 3 and 5 after delivery and the links between post-partum blues and depressive symptomatology, using standardised interviews and rati ng scales (Kennerley and Gath Blues Scale, MADRS) to screen a consecut ive series of 104 women on days three and five after a normal delivery . This study stresses the possibility of a difference between the symp tomatology of a benign ''classical'' post-partum blues, and that of a more intense blues closer to the spectrum of depressive mood disorders and perhaps post-natal depression. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.