Motherhood and Mental Health is a monograph published by Oxford University Press in 1996. Like Marcé’s 1858 monograph, it sets out to cover the whole field of the psychiatry of motherhood and childbearing (mother-infant psychiatry). In 600 pages, it has 230,000 words; it is a review of 4,000 works, of which 2,700 are cited. There are the following chapters:
- The desire for children
- Pregnancy and mental health
- A portfolio of postpartum disorders
- Puerperal psychosis
- Infant loss
- The mother-infant relationship
- Child abuse and neglect
- Infanticide
- Drugs, prescribed and abused
- Postpartum mental illness and the family
- Services
In a review for the Journal of the American Medical Association, Carol North wrote:
I had hoped to find this veritable tome to be informative, but I hadn’t anticipated that it would be entertaining as well. From the very first page it is full of fascinating and fun facts that held me captivated. What utterly engaged me was the rich historical background, providing both perspective and a warehouse of vividly illustrative data. A highly commendable feature is the simultaneous breadth and depth of topics. There is nothing lacking that I would want to know about, and there was a lot that I hadn’t even thought of that captured my interest. This density of material is present in every chapter. The scholarly detail that went into this book is the basis for the blending of rigorous science, history, and artful story-telling to create a work that is exceptional from many perspectives. I know of no other book that is both academically accomplished and so fascinating to read.
In a review for the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Miriam Rosenthal wrote:
It is unusual to find a scholarly book, single authored, beautifully written and readable, 612 pages long with 4,000 references. Such a book appeared this year. The book is not only for those interested in mental health. It’s implications are far wider for medical practitioners, researchers, and those interested in social policy. The bibliography is magnificent. I learned many new things in every chapter, and did so with delight. I found the book full of hope and promise for improvement in a field known throughout history but sorely neglected.
Eight chapters were translated into Japanese by Tadaharu Okano.
This book is still in print, and paper-back copies can be purchased from Oxford University Press. A number of second-hand copies, both paperback and hardback, are available on the internet, and I have bound a few copies in leather.
Published in 1996, I understand it is still used in teaching. In much of its range, litle that is new and substantial has been discovered in the last 20 years.
According to Google Scholar, it has 617 citations.
Ian Brockington 