Use of electroconvulsive therapy during postpartum: A retrospective chart review

There is limited data on use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for management of psychiatric disorders during the postpartum period from India.

We aimed to assess the demographic and clinical profile of patients receiving ECT during the postpartum period for various psychiatric disorders using a retrospective study design.

ECT register of the department was reviewed for the period of January 2019 to December 2023 to identify the patients who received ECT during the postpartum period. The treatment records of these patients were evaluated to extract the demographic and clinical profile.

During the study period, 10 patients received ECT during the postpartum period. The mean age of the study sample was 27 (standard deviation [SD]: 2.9) years. Majority of the patients were inpatients (70%) at the time of receiving ECT. Five patients were diagnosed with first-episode depression with postpartum onset, and two patients had postpartum-onset psychotic disorder. One patient was diagnosed with recurrent depressive episode and one with bipolar disorder, current episode mania with psychotic symptom, at the time of receiving ECT. The mean number of ECTs during the ECT course was 6.7 (SD: 3.09). Nine out of the 10 patients showed good response to ECT.

Although ECT is less frequently used for management of postpartum psychiatric disorders, its use is associated with significant clinical improvement.