**5. Treatment of postpartum posttraumatic stress disorder**

Given the insufficient knowledge of the effectiveness of postpartum PTSD therapy, most recommendations are based on proven therapeutic procedures for treating PTSD after any other traumatic experience.

Normalization of the condition is a general therapeutic procedure that involves psychoeducation of mother about the symptoms of PTSD, as well as the fact that the symptoms do not reflect a personal weakness or lower value of the woman. Education on how to reduce symptoms of guilt and self-blame, as well as doubts about one's own competence as a mother, are further steps in therapy. The education of other family members, as well as the mother herself, is also important [21]. Evidence-based psychological treatment of PTSD is the implementation of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) [22, 23].

Due to significant stigmatization, women with PTSD symptoms who recently gave birth rarely seek professional help. If they do ask for help, it is difficult for them to plan a schedule because of the new baby which makes it impossible to adhere to psychotherapy setting. They usually avoid taking the prescribed psychopharmaceuticals out of fear that the therapy will harm their baby through breastfeeding. In the Republic of Serbia, the Ministry of Health issued official guidelines for the use of psychotropic drugs during breastfeeding (available on the Ministry's website) [24]. The most commonly prescribed medication in the treatment of postpartum PTSD is antidepressants from the group of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
