Madness and Loss of Motherhood

The need for intimacy is present in everyone, perhaps even more so among persons with long-term mental illness. For some of these persons, parenting a child provides an instant identity, a valued status. From helping an individual make decisions about his or her sexuality to stabilizing a woman with long-term mental illness throughout a difficult pregnancy, the clinician is faced with many challenges. In this volume a multitude of issues are examined surrounding sexuality and reproduction among persons with long-term mental illness. The authors present data on the incidence of sexual activity, study staff reactions to pregnancy on an inpatient unit, and propose methods for inpatient management of sexually active persons with long-term mental illness. Specific chapters present clinical information on medication use during pregnancy, and on prenatal and postpartum care, with special emphasis on the problems encountered when working with this special population.