Why Are Moms With Postpartum Psychosis Hospitalized? - Dr. Dresner (VIDEO)
Dr. Dresner explains why mothers with postpartum psychosis need to be hospitalized.
More Videos from Dr. Nehama Dresner 16 videos in this series
Dr. Dresner:
So those individuals need to be seen in a hospital emergency room, not in a doctor’s office, and typically new mothers with postpartum psychosis should be admitted to the hospital for at least a brief period of observation and stabilization where you can sort of tease out what is the underlying disorder. Is this somebody with a previous psychiatric history who has been off their medication and is now getting worse? Is this somebody who for the first time is having psychotic symptoms? But I think, we tend to err on the side of what we think is generous and empathic to a new mother who is experiencing this kind of psychiatric distress, not to hospitalize her, not to put her in a hospital with crazy people, not to separate her from her baby, but we’re not doing patients a favor. There are so many stories of under-diagnosed or sort of inadequate interventions for new mothers with postpartum psychosis where the outcome is tragic.
About Dr. Nehama Dresner, M.D.:
Dr. Nehama Dresner, M.D., is a licensed, Board-certified psychiatrist (in general psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine) with specialized training and nearly 20 years experience in Women's Mental Health and Medical Psychiatry. She is Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Obstetrics/Gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and is actively involved in medical education. A fellow in the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine and the America Psychiatric Association, she speaks locally and nationally on issues related to psychological aspects of women's health and medical psychiatry. Dr. Dresner's clinical specialty is psychosomatic obstetrics, and gynecology, women's emotional development, and psychiatric treatment of the medically ill.
