Perinatal Psychiatry: Ready for Prime Time?

Perinatal psychiatry deals primarily with women’s mental health before labor and up to the first year post-childbirth and the growth and development of their offspring. Early insults to the developing brain of the fetus are consistently linked to later neuropsychiatric disorders. Maternal stress and depression, for instance, can trigger inflammation in the fetal brain, and studies consistently show the link between these events and the development of psychiatric disorders in the offspring. Postnatal mental disorders increase maternal morbidity and interfere with maternal bonding, thus impacting the health and development of the offspring. The aim of this chapter was to provide a brief overview of the field of perinatal psychiatry.