Based on current meta-analytic research, it has been concluded that the prevalence of postpartum posttraumatic stress disorder was 3.1% in community settings and 15.7% in at-risk populations; however, those findings do state various limitations, including underreporting biases, across the examined studies which lead many researchers to believe the prevalence may be higher.As of right now, there are no widely recognized assessments that measure for postpartum posttraumatic stress disorder in clinical and medical settings. However, researchers and physicians will often use more reliable posttraumatic stress disorder questionnaires and assessments, which are unfortunately not always specific enough to the posttraumatic symptoms and experiences that are felt before, during, or after childbirth. One assessment for postpartum posttraumatic stress disorder, the City Birth Trauma Scale (CBTS), has been used in some research settings; however, it is not widely used in clinical and medical settings. The CBTS is a 29-item self-report questionnaire developed to measure birth-related posttraumatic stress disorder, according to the DSM-5 criteria of: symptoms of re-experiencing the event, avoidance, negative cognitions and mood, and hyperarousal, as well as the duration of ones symptoms and the amount of distress and impairment the symptoms have caused in the individuals life. The creators of the CTSB also added in two items from the DSM-IV that they felt were relevant to the population being assessed with this measure – that the mothers responded to the traumatic events during childbirth with intense fear, helplessness, or horror and that there were symptoms of emotional numbing.
The famous short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper", was published by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in this period. In the story, an unnamed woman journals her life when she is treated by her physician husband, John, for hysterical and depressive tendencies after the birth of their baby. Gilman wrote the story to protest societal oppression of women as the result of her own experience as a patient.Also during the 19th century, gynecologists embraced the idea that female reproductive organs, and the natural processes they were involved in, were at fault for "female insanity." Approximately 10% of asylum admissions during this time period are connected to "puerperal insanity," the named intersection between pregnancy or childbirth and female mental illness. It wasnt until the onset of the twentieth century that the attitude of the scientific community shifted once again: the consensus amongst gynecologists and other medical experts was to turn away from the idea of diseased reproductive organs and instead towards more "scientific theories" that encompassed a broadening medical perspective on mental illness. Society and culture
Legal recognition
Recently, postpartum depression has become more widely recognized in society. In the US, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act included a section focusing on research into postpartum conditions including postpartum depression. Some argue that more resources in the form of policies, programs, and health objectives need to be directed to the care of those with PPD. Role of stigma
When stigma occurs, a person is labelled by their illness and viewed as part of a stereotyped group.