Perinatal anxiety and depression: issues, outcomes and interventions

The transition to parenthood, especially with the first child, is stressful physiologically, psychologically and socially. As with all developmental stages, the opportunity exists to grow and mature, but there is always the attendant threat of things going wrong, with physical or psychological disability as temporary or permanent outcome. Psychologically resilient people will use the challenges of this transition to review and appropriately modify their coping strategies and their relationships with others, even if all does not go according to plan.