[Importance of early management of puerperial psychosis. Report of a case].

Recent reports have demonstrated that puerperal psychosis is preceded by prodromic signs. These signs must be recognized in a multidisciplinary context, opening the way to improved diagnosis, therapy and prognosis. On the basis of our clinical experience, we stress the important of early management in women who present prodromic signs of puerperal psychosis. Specific management relies on intensive psychotherapy with daily sessions centered on filiation. With this approach, the emergence of delusions can generally be prevented, usually allowing an uninterrupted mother-infant relationship. We hypothesize that this approach has a favorable influence on later mother-child interactions and cause profound changes in the mother's psychic organization, resulting in a better long-term prognosis. We illustrate our point with a case report.