Delusional misidentification syndrome in postpartum psychosis

Delusional misidentification syndromes (DMS) have long been perceived to be a rare phenomenon with the prevalence being quoted as 4.1% for psychiatric inpatients admitted with functional psychosis. However anecdotal, audit and case series data suggest that the prevalence in women experiencing postpartum psychosis may be higher than that of the general inpatient psychiatric population. There is an established association between DMS and the risk of violence. This project’s aim is to estimate the prevalence of DMS in women admitted hospital with postpartum psychosis and establish the number of risk events associated with these presentations.