Skopje, 17 May 2025 (MIA) — Aimed at helping educate Macedonian health workers, new mothers and their families about potential problems experienced after childbirth, a diagnostic manual of postpartum mental disorders was launched as part of this year's "Love Yourself, Love Your Health" Women's Health Week held May 12-19 in Skopje.

According to the author, University Clinic of Psychiatry director Slavica Arsova, the manual includes questionnaires that can help in the early detection of postpartum depression and anxiety disorders.

Speaking at the launch, Arsova cited official figures saying around 15 percent of postpartum women experienced mental disorders. However, she said, the actual number was closer to 30 percent.

If new mothers did not receive the help they needed, Arsova said, their mental health could worsen and affect the entire family.

"If a mother is unable to take care of her baby, a healthy mother-to-child attachment cannot be formed," Arsova said, adding that this could cause emotional and cognitive issues in children, sometimes even leading to depression at some point in their lives.

She said the main reason postpartum issues were not detected early enough is that relatives and doctors tended to dismiss women's health problems.

"Future mothers are not informed or educated enough about what is happening to them," Arsova said.

She added that their families were also often ignorant or judgmental so a large number of women did not have the courage to ask for help.

"Also, health workers do not recognize, or they minimize, the impact of psychological disorders that women may develop in the postpartum period," she said.

The launch of the diagnostic manual was held as part of a conference organized by the Macedonian Association of Gynecologists and Obstetricians. mr/