Is postnatal depression dangerous?
No, postnatal depression is usually not dangerous for the woman or her baby. It is not unusual for a new mother to have unwanted thoughts about, for example, harming her baby: that can happen when you are depressed and as long as you do not actually do it, this is not a sign of psychosis or serious mental illness. But anyone who has a very severe depression is in danger of staying depressed for a long time, or even becoming suicidal. If anyone starts having serious thoughts of suicide, they need to get urgent medical help. There is also another serious condition that can occur after childbirth, called postpartum psychosis or puerperal psychosis. It is rare, affecting perhaps one or two women out of every thousand (0.1 – 0.2%), although the risk is higher for women who have already had a condition like bipolar disorder (with alternating episodes of mania and depression). If having a baby is going to trigger a psychosis, it is most likely to start within a few weeks after childbirth. If
