Outpatient medical management of postpartum psychiatric disorders.

Many psychiatric treatment modalities may be used in treating postpartum psychiatric disorders. A structured psychiatric interview specifically designed to elicit symptoms of postpartum depression and psychosis can be very useful in diagnosing the type and severity of the disorder. Once the diagnosis has been made, a combination of education, individual and group psychotherapy, and psychopharmacologic interventions can relieve the symptoms and help restore the new mother to her previous level of functioning.