Psych CASC / OSCE · Consultation-liaison psychiatry
Explaining postpartum psychosis and infant safety on the maternity ward — CASC communication station
MRCPsych/FRANZCP-style station: explain PPP as emergency, dual mother-infant risk, treatment outline, lithium counselling principles, and collaborative plan with maternity.
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Format. Communication station, approximately 7–10 minutes after reading time. You are the psychiatry registrar. The partner attends; midwifery staff may be available for a joint plan.[1][3]
Candidate instructions. Explain that this presentation is postpartum psychosis, a treatable psychiatric emergency, not ordinary blues. Explain why same-day hospital care and infant safety planning are needed. Outline treatment (sleep, medicines, possible specialist mother-baby unit) without jargon overload. Address lithium fear with balanced risk language. Check understanding and agree next steps with maternity.[1][2][3][4]
References5ShowHide
- [1]Bergink V, Rasgon N, Wisner KL Postpartum Psychosis: Madness, Mania, and Melancholia in Motherhood Am J Psychiatry, 2016.PMID 27609245
- [2]Jones I, Chandra PS, Dazzan P, Howard LM Bipolar disorder, affective psychosis, and schizophrenia in pregnancy and the post-partum period Lancet, 2014.PMID 25455249
- [3]Bergink V, Burgerhout KM, Koorengevel KM, Kamperman AM, Hoogendijk WJ, Lambregtse-van den Berg MP, et al. Treatment of psychosis and mania in the postpartum period Am J Psychiatry, 2015.PMID 25640930
- [4]Patorno E, Huybrechts KF, Hernandez-Diaz S Lithium Use in Pregnancy and the Risk of Cardiac Malformations N Engl J Med, 2017.PMID 28854098
- [5]Galbally M, Sved-Williams A, Kristianopulos D, Mercuri K, Brown P, Buist A Comparison of public mother-baby psychiatric units in Australia: similarities, strengths and recommendations Australas Psychiatry, 2019.PMID 30407072