Mental Health During the Perinatal Period
Until recently, the majority of studies of mental health during perinatal periods focused predominantly on postnatal depression, however, a growing number have investigated other types of mental ill-health during the perinatal period, including prenatal conditions. It is hard to know exactly how many parents suffer from mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression during the perinatal period, which is generally defined as pregnancy to the first 12 months of the childs life. Statistics suggest up to 20% of women develop a mental health condition like depression or anxiety in perinatal time, either during pregnancy or in the year after giving birth. Another study showed that approximately 13-21% of women are affected by anxiety either during pregnancy or in the postpartum period (Fairbrother et al., 2015). We also know that approximately 5-10% of men suffer from clinical depression during this time period (Paulson et al., 2010 ), while 5-15% are affected by anxiety disorders (Leach et al., 2016 ). One out of every five people who are pregnant or postpartum already have a diagnosed mood disorder or anxiety, and these are the most common mental health conditions experienced during the peripartum period.1 The peripartum period brings increased vulnerability to depression, pharmacotherapy withdrawal, relapse to addiction, and death from drug overdose after delivery.
Some examples of perinatal mental health issues include prenatal and/or postnatal depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, postpartum psychosis, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Recent focus on anxiety and mood disorders in pregnancy has drawn attention to mental health needs for pregnant women and their partners, as well as to the effects that untreated conditions can have on mothers, partners, newborns, and children. Although the term postpartum depression has been used in the past, perinatal mental health conditions are in fact a spectrum of experiences that may impact individuals throughout pregnancy and/or postpartum, including postpartum depression, in addition to various other conditions. While suicide rates during pregnancy or postpartum are not known with certainty across settings, perinatal mental health issues do occasionally result in self-harm, which is a leading cause of female deaths worldwide. Perinatal depression is often not even recognized because changes in sleep, appetite, and sexual desire can be blamed on normal changes in pregnancy and the postpartum period. Perinatal depression and other mood disorders, such as bipolar disorder and anxiety disorders, have devastating effects on women, babies, and families; maternal suicide has overtaken hemorrhage and hypertensive disorders as the leading cause of maternal death.
The problem of perinatal mental health is not just important for its effects on maternal health, but also for its effects on child health, which can affect emotional, cognitive, and even physical development. In this perspective, we focus on the potential effects of maternal perinatal mental health on the childs development, and highlight structural disparities that must be addressed in order to alleviate maternal psychological distress and to enhance maternal and child health and wellbeing. Advocates around the globe know that conversations about perinatal mental health, research, policies, and raising the voices of birthing people with lived experiences is the only way to begin truly begin making lasting impact for birthing people and all children in generations to come.
Cited Sources
https://maternalmentalhealthalliance.org/about/perinatal-mental-health/ 0
https://www.mhtf.org/topics/perinatal-mental-health/ 1
https://mhttcnetwork.org/centers/global-mhttc/perinatal-mental-health 2
https://panda.org.au/articles/how-cwommon-is-mental-illness-in-the-perinatal-period 3
https://www.mhanational.org/issues/position-statement-49-perinatal-mental-health 4
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2789900 6
https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.00779 7
https://www.nationalelfservice.net/populations-and-settings/perinatal-mental-health/ 9