There is no empirical research on the occurrence of postnatal psychiatric morbidity in Spanish population. To determine the prevalence rate of DSM-IV psychiatric disorders in postpartum Spanish mothers.

A two-phase cross-sectional epidemiological study. Women consecutively attending in the routine postnatal check-up (at six weeks after delivery) in the Department of Obstetric and Gynaecology of the Clinic Hospital during one year were included. In the first phase, 1453 women were screened with the EPDS. In the second phase, based upon EPDS outcomes, participants were stratified and randomly selected within each stratum for clinical evaluation with the Structured Clinical Interview (SCID) for DSM-IV to determine psychiatric status. Weighted prevalence and its 95% Confidence Intervals (95%CI) were obtained for DSM-IV diagnostic groups.

The overall 6-weeks prevalence rate for postpartum psychiatric disorders was 18.1% (95% CI 15.0-21.8). The most prevalent DSM-IV diagnostic group was mood disorders (9.8%; 95% CI 7.9-12.1), follow-up by adjustment disorders group (4.3%; 95% CI 3.0-6.3), anxiety diagnostic group (3.9%; 95% CI 2.5-5.8) and “other” disorders group (1.1%; 95% CI: 0.3-3.8%).

This results shows the heterogeneity of postnatal psychiatric morbidity. We found that DSM-IV diagnosis of mood disorders in postpartum women were more prevalent than anxiety disorders, in contrast with recent studies in postnatal community women. Clinical and research evaluation of mental health in postpartum women should include a full range of mental disorders.

This study has been supported in part by grant 13/00 from Ministery of Work and Social Affairs, Institute of Women, Spain.