A lack of education, understanding and treatment for postpartum mental health conditions such as postpartum anxiety, depression and psychosis could explain why 60% of postpartum depression cases go undiagnosed, as well as how 50% of those diagnosed do not receive treatment.
There are six things to know:
- A 2022 survey found that 1 in 4 new mothers in medicine experience postpartum depression — double the rate of the general population.
- Twenty percent of postpartum deaths are attributed to suicide.
- The culture of medicine is not conducive to family-building. “There’s no room for self in the culture of medicine; it doesn’t allow for or promote self-health,” Catherine Birndorf, MD, a reproductive psychiatrist, told Medscape. “I think that lip service is paid to ‘take care of yourself,’ but I don’t think that plays out in the sense of policies supporting parents.”
- In 2021, the top 20 hospitals ranked by U.S. News & World Report offered an average of eight weeks of paid leave for birthing parents — less than the 12 weeks recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the 18 weeks recommended by the World Health Organization.
- A 2024 Medscape survey found 33% of female physicians reported their employer offered no paid maternity leave.
- Only 55% of women physicians eligible for parental leave took the full amount, according to a Doximity poll.
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