The classification of perinatal mood disorders—suggestions for DSMV and ICD11

Abstract

The link between childbirth and affective disorders has been recognised for many hundreds of years. It is also clear that episodes of mood disorder occurring at this time are of great clinical and public health importance with suicide a leading cause of maternal death in the developed world (CEMACH 2007). The nosology of perinatal episodes, however, is controversial and has lead to confusion in both clinical practice and research. In this paper we will briefly and selectively consider a number of studies that have been published since DSM IV and ICD10 and make suggestions for how perinatal mood disorders could be dealt with in DSM-V and ICD11.