Aim. The objective of the research was the analysis of the frequency with which postnatal disorders occur in the early period after the delivery, the assessment of their character, and studying the risk features of affective symptom occurrence in women after the childbirth admitted for a check-up to the outpatients' clinic at the L. Rydygier Hospial in Katowice-Bogucice and the Central Clinic in Katowice-Ligota. Method. A group of 80 women after childbirth were subject to an anonymous survey (40 patients from the maternity ward in the Bogucice hospital and 40 patients at the hospital in Ligota), in the period from June to August 2008. Affective disorders were diagnosed in a survey consisting of three parts: Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). A self-prepared questionnaire form which included questions concerning the family conditions, social and economic factors, and the history of the women in childbirth and the delivery procedure. Results. The average age of the tested women was between 17 to 44 years. Education structure was as follows: 43% of women had higher; 35% secondary school education; 16% vocational education; 6% elementary education. A majority of the surveyed women (69%) were married. 31% of the patients were unmarried, of which 17 % were single; 9% divorced; and, the smallest group (5%) were widows. A majority of the patients, i.e. 65 women lived in towns (81.25%), and 15 recipients were from rural areas (18.75%). The largest number of surveyed women (21 persons) declared very good living conditions and 49 declared good conditions. Only 10 patients considered their living conditions as insufficient. None of the women stated that their living conditions were below their needs and anticipations. A majority of the surveyed women (67%) were professionally active. 25% of the women had given birth for the first time, while 75% of them had previously given birth. A majority of the pregnancies (82.5% of the surveyed women) proceeded normally. 65% of the survey recipients gave natural birth, and 35% gave birth by Caesarean section. Conclusions. The research conducted on the basis of the BDI questionnaire proved that 25% of the surveyed women suffered from postnatal deprssion of which 15% suffered mild depression, 5% moderate depression and 5% severe depression. The results obtained on the basis of the EPDS questionnaire show that 44% of the women suffered from postnatal depression after childbirth of which 14% suffered from mild depression, and 30% severe depression. In respect to all the analysed changeable features correlating in a significant manner with postnatal depression were education, marital status and living conditions.