Long-term outcome of postpartum psychosis: a prospective clinical cohort study in 106 women

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the outcome of postpartum psychosis over a four-year follow-up, and to identify potential clinical markers of mood/psychotic episodes outside of the postpartum period. METHODS: One hundred and six women with a diagnosis of first-onset mania or psychosis during the postpartum period were included in this prospective longitudinal study. Women were categorized into either (1) recurrence of non-postpartum mood/psychotic episodes or (2) mania/psychosis limited to the postpartum period. We summarize the longitudinal course of the illness per group. We used a logistic regression model to identify clinical predictors of recurrence of mood/psychotic episodes outside of the postpartum period. RESULTS: Over two thirds of the women included in this study did not have major psychiatric episodes outside of the postpartum period during follow-up. The overall recurrence rate of mood/psychotic episodes outside the postpartum period was ~ 32%. Of these women, most transitioned to a bipolar disorder diagnosis. None of the women fulfilled diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder. No clinical markers significantly predicted recurrence outside of the postpartum period. CONCLUSIONS: For the majority of women with first-onset postpartum psychosis, the risk of illness was limited to the period after childbirth. For the remaining women, postpartum psychosis was part of a mood/psychotic disorder with severe non-postpartum recurrence, mainly in the bipolar spectrum. No clinical predictors for risk of severe episodes outside the postpartum period emerged. Our findings add to previous evidence suggesting a fundamental link between postpartum psychosis and bipolar disorder, which may represent two distinct diagnoses within the same spectrum. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40345-021-00236-2.