Postpartum fatigue: clarifying a concept.

This paper describes the multifaceted approach employed to clarify the concept of postpartum fatigue. The process began with a literary analysis, which gave rise to questions about the defining characteristics of postpartum fatigue and its differentiation from related concepts such as tiredness and depression. A series of qualitative and quantitative studies were carried out to examine new mothers' characterizations of their fatigue, the indicators and predictors of postpartum fatigue, and the differences between fatigue and depression. The evolving concept clarification suggests that postpartum fatigue is most effectively conceptualized as a multidimensional concept with physical and mental aspects that is different from tiredness and can be differentiated from postpartal depression or milder "baby blues," with which there is some overlap.