Postpartum Depression

This book integrates recent research on postpartum depression (PPD), organizing it into a conceptual model and providing specific steps that can help professionals identify mothers who might be suffering from postpartum depression. The author proposes a model based on five independent risk factors that combine biological and psychosocial views: hormonal factors, other biological factors, traumatic birth experiences, infant factors and psychosocial factors. Attention is paid to how it can be used to develop individual treatment plans and how nurses can build a resource network to help the new mother find community-based resources.