[Postpartum psychiatry].

The four important syndromes that constitute postnatal psychiatry are chronologically: 1) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), 2) Baby-blues, 3) Puerperal psychosis and 4) Postnatal depression. The PTSD (prevalence 1%) occurs from 24 to 48 hours after a difficult childbirth. Anxiety predominates in association with nightmares and recurrent images of the experience. Baby-blues (prevalence 80%) is a feeling of sadness that doesn't need to be treated. It occurs around the third day of post-partum. Its intensity is a predictive factor of postnatal depression. Puerperal psychosis (prevalence 0.2%) is a disturbance of psychotic or manic proportion, mainly in women with a psychiatric previous history. It occurs between the first and the third week of the post-partum period. Postnatal depression (prevalence 20%) is a major depressive state commencing four to six weeks after delivery. It is rarely diagnosed early and child abuse is one of its consequences. Prevention--the important point of the treatment--is most of the time neglected.