ABSTRACT
Peripartum psychosis is a rare but serious psychiatric disorder characterized by the presence of a mood episode with psychotic features. Although controversy surrounds the nosological status of peripartum mental disorders, these conditions continue to be of exceptional interest to the medical and forensic mental health communities. The aim of this study was to report a rare case of prepartum psychosis which escalated to the endpoint of neonaticide and summarize literature on peripartum mental disorders and infanticide. A 30-year-old mother murdered her newborn with the spike of her serum delivery system and planned to commit suicide while in hospital after hallucinating due to an acute puerperal psychotic disorder with a prepartum onset and postpartum deterioration. Her disorder was not managed until neonaticide. Throughout this paper, the significance of a multidisciplinary approach for the optimal management of these incidents is highlighted and diagnostic as well as therapeutic issues are addressed.
Subject(s)
Infanticide/psychology , Mothers/psychology , Psychotic Disorders/diagnosis , Adult , Female , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Pregnancy , Pregnancy Complications/psychology , Psychotic Disorders/psychology , Puerperal Disorders/diagnosis , Puerperal Disorders/psychologyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To examine the influence of short interpregnancy interval on the prevalence of preterm birth in two, ethically different, Greek populations. STUDY DESIGN: We studied 652 urban Christian women and 578 rural, Romany, Muslim women who had had two consecutive, singleton pregnancies. We related the prevalence of preterm birth to the interpregnancy intervals (cut-off point, 6 months). Student's t-test, x(2)-test and relative risk estimation were used. RESULTS: Preterm birth and interpregnancy intervals less than 6 months occurred more often among Muslims than Christians. Among Muslims, an interval of <6 months was associated with greater prevalence of preterm birth (16% versus 7.3%, P=0.013, RR=2.4 and 95% C.I. 1.3-4.7). Christians did not demonstrate a similar relationship. CONCLUSIONS: A short interpregnancy interval seems to be a risk factor for preterm birth in the population of rural, Romany, Muslim women.
