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The mom may feel guilty about her perceived lack of maternal feelings, which causes further despair, which causes further guilt. This can lead into a real depressive spiral. Postpartum depression is much more severe than postpartum blues. Postpartum depression usually occurs in women with underlying or pre-existing mood or psychiatric disorders. Luckily, most women overcome this problem with counseling and antidepressant medications. As with postpartum blues, the cause of postpartum depression is poorly understood; however, certain risk factors have been identified. A new mom is more prone to postpartum depression if she has a personal or family history of depression, a high level of stressful occurrences during her pregnancy, or a poor marital relationship. Also, adolescents are known to be significantly more depressed than their peers who are not pregnant. About twenty percent to thirty percent of women who experience postpartum depression experience it again with further pregnancies. Unlike postpartum blues, postpartum depression can be serious. Postpartum depression can result in the inability of the mom to function effectively, which can significantly disrupt the harmony of family life. The mother may remain depressed for months if she doesn't get help.

Postpartum psychosis is an extremely serious problem that can affect the mom's perception of reality. She can experience hallucinations, delusions, severe depression, and confusion. Postpartum psychosis usually occurs within thirty to sixty days of childbirth. Thankfully, postpartum psychosis is rare, occurring in one to two pregnancies per thousand pregnancies. The chance of a psychotic episode after delivery is almost twenty times higher than the risk before pregnancy. Women who have had previous episodes of psychosis are 200 times more likely to experience postpartum psychosis than women who haven't had psychotic episodes. Also, women who have a parent or a sibling with a known history of psychosis have a ten to twenty-fold increased risk for postpartum psychosis; this suggests a possible genetic link. The risk of a mother harming her baby is quite high if she has postpartum psychosis. Mothers with this problem usually have delusions of the infant being possessed with extraordinary powers, usually of an evil nature. Auditory hallucinations, such as, Kill the baby before it kills you' are not uncommon.

So what can be done for ladies who have a problem with a postpartum mood disorder? First of all, nothing

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