Is there an increased risk to your daughter of developing PP if you have had PP yourself and how should this be managed?

[openeyes]

[Lavender123]

I think it is in our genes to be honest ,but its only me who has suffered with PP and i have two sisters who were okay! But i have had other members suffer from depression! I had PP on my second baby 3 wks after giving birth, looking back now though i had only just moved into different house and everything was going wrong and caused me alot of stress and i was trying to fix everything myself as my partner worked very long hours so i had no support from him as i didnt want to give him extra worries!The stress of everything just took over me literally! I ended up in hospital as i got so low and just couldn't look after my family any longer as i had snapped inside my head! So i would say get some time to yourself and just relax as much and often as you can. Get someone to help you with chores etc and i think tat would have helped me tremendously! Hope this helps in some way ? Kind regards Lavender xx

[andrea_at_app Volunteer]

Hi Openeyes, good question. Yes as Lavender123 says research shows genes play an important part - although no-one in my family had it either (that I know of).

You might find this useful, it's a section from the leaflet produced by APP for the Royal College of Psychiatrists:

"If you also have a mother or sister who has had postpartum psychosis, your risk may be even higher. Women who have had postpartum psychosis before are also at very high risk. If you are in one of these high risk groups your chance of having postpartum psychosis is between 1 in 4 and 1 in 2 (25% to 50%). You should discuss your individual risk with a psychiatrist. You may be worried about your risk if a close relative has had postpartum psychosis. If your mother or sister had postpartum psychosis but you have not had any mental illness, your risk is around 3 in 100 (3%). This is higher than the risk in the general population. It is still much lower than for the very high risk groups."

(full leaflet available here: rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthi...

I think the last sentence is the important one, "This is higher than the risk in the general population. It is still much lower than for the very high risk groups." So it looks pretty good really!

Hope this helps x

[Naomi_at_app Volunteer]

Hi Openeyes

Thanks for asking this question - I had also worried about this as I have two lovely daughters. I had an episode PP with my first, and the beginnings of PP symptoms (hypomania) with my second before starting on antipsychotic medication.

The good news is that, as the RCPsych leaflet above outlines, most daughters of mums who have had PP have a relatively low risk of developing PP themselves (3 in 100). It is only if daughters develop mental illness such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia that the risk for them after the birth of a child increases.

I also feel relieved that, for my daughters, they will never have to go through the huge unknown of a first episode of PP - they will be well informed about the early warning signs and may even have access to improved treatments in the next 20-30 years.

All the best

N

[HelenMW Volunteer]

Thank you again for asking this question. I do worry a little about the daughter I had when I had my episode of PP but maybe forewarned is forearmed. I think I would recognise early signs of the illness. Also I had a great support package for the second and third pregnancies so I would hope to make sure this was the case for all my daughters. I did not have PP with my subsequent two daughters and it was such a joy to be well during the post natal period. There is hope! and I do believe that the more this illness is brought into the light then the better for all.

[Hannah_at_APP Administrator]

The risk is clearly higher and I guess talking about it and being prepared would be important. I have a son and if I have a daughter I would feel I needed to tell her about the risk. I know my sister became obsessed about her higher risk when I was ill but she had one child already and some unrelated depression recently. I'd like to think I could support her and professionals would take it seriously if she ever has another baby though. Hope this helps.

[Hidden]

Just to highlight what the other ladies have said, there is a slight higher risk. Being mums who have been there we would know the early warning signs and be the best to support them. I am a mother of 3 boys, so wont have to directly worry about them, but if in the future they had children, we also would be able to support their partners if anything happened.

[jluna]

My mother had a bad case of PP but I sailed through my 3 pregnancies and neonatal periods without even a sign of the "baby blues" and so did my daughter, so don't worry too much.

[PPx2]

My mother had 4 children and did not get PP. My sister (the only sibling who had children) had 3 children and did not get PP. I had 4 children, 2 of which I got PP with. My daughter so far has had 1 child and did not get PP. Hope this helps.