POSTNATAL DEPRESSION
Family planning doctors find, whether they like it or not, that they are often dealing with deep and difficult emotions. In the same way that much bereavement counselling may go on in family planning consultations, so it is a time when depression may first be noticed. It has been suggested that some degree of depression, at least that described as the ‘baby blues’, is a normal and healthy adaptive aspect of the transition involved in becoming a mother (Gulbrandsen, 1992). More long-lasting depression is often missed and the degree of disorder may be hard to assess. The family planning doctor, whether in general practice or in a clinic, needs to look carefully for signs of clinical depression as the patient may not complain spontaneously. The routine visit for a repeat prescription for contraception is an important opportunistic moment for screening for such illness.
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