Finding
The number of women who are becoming severely mentally ill post-birth is the same now as in Emily Pankhurst's era.
Paper
A review of puerperal psychosis
Abstract
It is now well established that two out of every thousand women delivered are admitted to a psychiatric hospital suffering from puerperal psychosis. It is remarkable that this incidence has remained broadly constant for over a century in different countries (Kendell et al, 1987; Paffenberger, 1964; Brockington et al, 1982). Yet, despite advances in reducing maternal and infant mortality and improving safety and pain relief in labour, the incidence of women's ‘psychosis’ post-birth has remained static. The number of women who are becoming severely mentally ill post-birth is the same now as in Emily Pankhurst's era.
Authors
C. Gaskell
Journal
The British Journal of Midwifery
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