Health practitioners’ recognition and management of postpartum obsessive-compulsive thoughts of infant harm

Abstract

The postpartum period has been associated with elevated rates of onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) among women, with a prevalence of 2–9%. Postpartum OCD is often characterized by recurrent, unwanted, and highly distressing thoughts, images, or impulses of deliberate infant harm. This study investigated health practitioners’ recognition of, and clinical management strategies for, postpartum obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS). Ninety-four perinatal health practitioners from a range of disciplines and professional backgrounds completed a survey comprised of a hypothetical case vignette and questions eliciting their responses to a clinical presentation of postpartum infant harming o..