Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is It?ExamplesPostpartum OCD vs. AnxietyCauses and Risk FactorsTreatment

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

What Is It?

Examples

Postpartum OCD vs. Anxiety

Causes and Risk Factors

Treatment

In about 2.5% of women and some men, OCD symptoms can become worse duringpregnancyor childbirth.When this happens, it’s called postpartum OCD or perinatal OCD. Luckily, treatments such ascognitive behavioral therapycan help.

This article discusses postpartum OCD, including OCD symptoms, treatments, and how to help a loved one with this condition.

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Asian mother and baby.

What Is Postpartum OCD?

Postpartum OCD is an obsessive-compulsive disorder that emerges in the year after a person gives birth. OCD symptoms can also emerge during pregnancy. This is known as perinatal OCD. These conditions are treated similarly and are collectively known as pOCD.

Postpartum Care: A Guide to Taking Care of a Body That Just Delivered

Examples of Postpartum OCD

Understanding the symptoms of postpartum OCD can help you identify if you or a loved one is dealing with pOCD. Here’s what the symptoms might look like.

Obsessive Thoughts

Obsessions can include:

Although obsessive thoughts can be disturbing, research shows that they are normal, and mothers with pOCD are extremely unlikely to harm their infants.

Compulsions

In response to obsessions, people with pOCD often develop compulsions. These can include:

Keep in mind that it’s possible to develop a compulsion without related obsessions, too.

Other Symptoms of Postpartum OCD

While obsession and compulsions are the main symptom sets of OCD, they can lead to other symptoms. You may:

Postpartum OCD vs. Postpartum Anxiety

Postpartum and perinatal mood disorders can be difficult to tell apart because there is a lot of overlap with conditions like postpartum anxiety, depression, and OCD. Because of this, the medical community thinks that pOCD is likely underdiagnosed.

Postpartum OCD differs frompostpartum anxietybecause it features obsessions or compulsions. Still, OCD can cause anxiety, and anxiety can fuel OCD. It’s possible to have more than one postpartum mood disorder at once.

Whenever you’re experiencing symptoms of a mood disorder in the postpartum or perinatal period, it’s best to talk with an experienced health professional who can get you an accurate diagnosis.

Healthcare providers don’t know what causes postpartum and perinatal mood disorders, including postpartum OCD. It’s believed that hormonal changes and lack of sleep play a role.Postpartum OCD is most common in the birthing parent, but partners who did not give birth can also experience pOCD.

People who have previously been diagnosed with a mood disorder are at higher risk for developing pOCD. Between 25% and 75% of people with OCD will have a recurrence after they give birth.

In addition, pOCD also occurs alongside other mood disorders. More than 70% of people with pOCD also experience depression and more than 27% also experience an anxiety disorder.If you’re getting treatment for postpartum depression or anxiety, but still experience symptoms of OCD, talk with your healthcare provider about whether you might also have postpartum OCD.

Treatment for Postpartum OCD

Treatment for pOCD is similar totreatment for OCD. Exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy is the first line treatment, typically along with medications known asserotonin reuptake inhibitors(SSRIs).

ERP, usually considered part of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) practice, and SSRI use offer benefits in the majority of cases. During CBT sessions, you’ll learn that intrusive thoughts are normal and not dangerous. This allows you to change how you interpret your thoughts, and eventually change or eliminate your compulsive behaviors.

SSRIs can help control symptoms of OCD. These are safe for most pregnant and breastfeeding people, although you should talk to your healthcare provider about your specific circumstances.

What Is Postpartum Depression, and What Helps?

Summary

A Word From Verywell

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, postpartum OCD is related to postpartum depression. These two conditions can coexist and make each other worse. If you’re dealing with a postpartum mood disorder, talk to your healthcare provider about all your symptoms.

The best way to help a loved one with postpartum OCD is to connect them with an experienced mental health professional. Assuring them that everything will be fine or downplaying their obsessions can actually make matters worse. Remember, postpartum OCD is a medical condition that requires medical treatment.

4 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Sharma, Varinder and Christina Sommerdyk.Obsessive–compulsive disorder in the postpartum period: diagnosis, differential diagnosis and management.Women’s Health. July 1, 2015. Doi: 10.2217/WHE.15.20.International OCD Foundation.Postpartum and perinatal OCD.UMPC.Postpartum depression: Causes, risks and treatment at UPMC in central Pa.Goodman WK, Storch EA, Sheth SA.Harmonizing the Neurobiology and Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.Am J Psychiatry. 2021 Jan 1;178(1):17-29. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.20111601.

4 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Sharma, Varinder and Christina Sommerdyk.Obsessive–compulsive disorder in the postpartum period: diagnosis, differential diagnosis and management.Women’s Health. July 1, 2015. Doi: 10.2217/WHE.15.20.International OCD Foundation.Postpartum and perinatal OCD.UMPC.Postpartum depression: Causes, risks and treatment at UPMC in central Pa.Goodman WK, Storch EA, Sheth SA.Harmonizing the Neurobiology and Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.Am J Psychiatry. 2021 Jan 1;178(1):17-29. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.20111601.

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Sharma, Varinder and Christina Sommerdyk.Obsessive–compulsive disorder in the postpartum period: diagnosis, differential diagnosis and management.Women’s Health. July 1, 2015. Doi: 10.2217/WHE.15.20.International OCD Foundation.Postpartum and perinatal OCD.UMPC.Postpartum depression: Causes, risks and treatment at UPMC in central Pa.Goodman WK, Storch EA, Sheth SA.Harmonizing the Neurobiology and Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.Am J Psychiatry. 2021 Jan 1;178(1):17-29. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.20111601.

Sharma, Varinder and Christina Sommerdyk.Obsessive–compulsive disorder in the postpartum period: diagnosis, differential diagnosis and management.Women’s Health. July 1, 2015. Doi: 10.2217/WHE.15.20.

International OCD Foundation.Postpartum and perinatal OCD.

UMPC.Postpartum depression: Causes, risks and treatment at UPMC in central Pa.

Goodman WK, Storch EA, Sheth SA.Harmonizing the Neurobiology and Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.Am J Psychiatry. 2021 Jan 1;178(1):17-29. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.20111601.

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