ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case of a 28-year-old mother who attends the general practitioner (GP) surgery having been referred by her health visitor as she had become concerned about the safety of her baby following a routine postnatal check-up. She has feelings of guilt about having such thoughts and believes that she is not a good mother. The baby was born at full term via a normal vaginal delivery. There is no other psychiatric or medical history. Her parents are retired and live in a different city. Her mother suffers from recurrent depressive disorder and has been treated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the past. This woman needs to be referred to a specialist Mother and Baby (Perinatal Psychiatric) team for urgent assessment of the risk of harm to the baby and risk of self-harm, which dictates the course of further management.
