Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-16T17:07:38.813Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 13 - Perinatal Psychiatry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2024

By
Sarah Jones ,
Aaron McMeekin ,
Ipshita Mukherjee  and
Laura Murphy
Edited by
Rachel Thomasson ,
Elspeth Guthrie  and
Allan House
Rachel Thomasson
Affiliation:
Manchester Centre for Clinical Neurosciences
Elspeth Guthrie
Affiliation:
Leeds Institute of Health Sciences
Allan House
Affiliation:
Leeds Institute of Health Sciences
Get access

Summary

Perinatal mental illnesses are common and carry significant morbidity for the mother and infant, the family and wider society. Suicide remains a leading cause of maternal death. Pregnancy, childbirth and the transition into parenthood presents a unique life stage where a combination of physical, biological and psychological stressors can leave many women vulnerable to developing perinatal mental illness. This is a time where individuals often reflect on their own experiences of parenting and early life trauma can be reactivated. In addition, there is now consistent evidence that perinatal mental illness is not confined to maternal mental health problems. Approximately 10% of fathers experience postnatal depression and a recent study by the National Childbirth Trust has shown that 38% of all first-time fathers are concerned about their mental health.

The perinatal period is a time in a family’s life when they are in contact with many health professionals.

Keywords

pregnancychildbirthperinatal
Type
Chapter
Information
Seminars in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry , pp. 210 - 231
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Doyle, M, Carballedo, A, O’Keane, V. Perinatal depression and psychosis: An update. BJPsych Advances. 2015;21(1):5–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woody, CA, Ferrari, AJ, Siskind, DJ et al. A systematic review and meta-regression of the prevalence and incidence of perinatal depression. J Affect Disord. 2017;219:86–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shorey, S, Chee, CYI, Ng, ED et al. Prevalence and incidence of postpartum depression among healthy mothers: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Psychiatr Res. 2018;104:235–48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Munk-Olsen, T, Laursen, TM, Mendelson, T, Pedersen, CB, Mors, O, Mortensen, PB. Risks and predictors of readmission for a mental disorder during the postpartum period. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2009;66:189–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biaggi, A, Conroy, S, Pawlby, S et al. Identifying the women at risk of antenatal anxiety and depression: A systematic review. J Affect Disord. 2016;191:62–77.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marchesi, C, Ossola, P, Amerio, A et al. Clinical management of perinatal anxiety disorders: A systematic review. J Affect Disord. 2016;190:543–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, MJ, Meador, KJ, Browning, N et al. Fetal antiepileptic drug exposure: Adaptive and emotional/behavioral functioning at age 6 years. Epilepsy Behav. 2013;29(2):308–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Letourneau, N, Dennis, C, Cosic, N et al. The effect of perinatal depression treatment for mothers on parenting and child development: A systematic review. Depress Anxiety. 2017;34(10):928–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lanza di Scalea, T, Wisner, KL. Antidepressant medication use during breastfeeding. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2009 ep;52(3):483–97.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McAllister-Williams, RH, Baldwin, DS, Cantwell, R et al. British Association for Psychopharmacology consensus guidance on the use of psychotropic medication preconception, in pregnancy and postpartum 2017. J Psychopharmacol. 2017;31(5):519–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fawcett, EJ, Fairbrother, N, Cox, ML et al. The prevalence of anxiety disorders during pregnancy and the postpartum period: A multivariate Bayesian meta-analysis. J Clin Psychiatry. 2019;80(4):18r12527.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dennis, CL, Falah-Hassani, K, Shiri, R. Prevalence of antenatal and postnatal anxiety: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Psychiatry. 2017;210(5):315–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Russell, EJ, Fawcett, JM, Mazmanian, D. Risk of obsessive-compulsive disorder in pregnant and postpartum women: A meta-analysis. J Clin Psychiatry. 2013;74:377–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Antenatal and postnatal mental health: Clinical management and service guidance. 2020. www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg192.Google Scholar
O’Connell, MA, Leahy-Warren, P, Khashan, A et al. Worldwide prevalence of tokophobia in pregnant women: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Acta Obstetricia et Gynaecological Scandinavica. 2017;96(8):907–20.Google Scholar
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Caesarean birth. 2021. www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng192/chapter/Recommendations.Google Scholar
Healthy London Partnership, Pan-London Perinatal Mental Health networks. Fear of childbirth (tokophobia) and traumatic experience of birth: Best practice toolkit. 2018. www.transformationpartnersinhealthandcare.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Tokophobia-best-practice-toolkit-Jan-2018-update-for-website-2022-.pdf.Google Scholar
Jones, I, Craddock, N. Searching for the puerperal trigger: Molecular genetic studies of bipolar affective puerperal psychosis. Psychopharmacol Bull. 2007;40(2):115–28.Google ScholarPubMed
Di Florio, A, Smith, S, Jones, I. Postpartum psychosis.The Obstetrician & Gynaecologist. 2013;15(3):145–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jablensky, A, Morgan, V Zubrick, S et al. Pregnancy, delivery, and neonatal complications in a population cohort of women with schizophrenia and major affective disorders. Am J Psychiatry. 2005;162(1):79–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hizkiyahu, R, Levy, A., Sheiner, E. Pregnancy outcome of patients with schizophrenia. Am J Perinatol. 2009;27(1):19–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bye, A, Nath, S, Ryan, E et al. Prevalence and clinical characterisation of pregnant women with eating disorders. European Eating Disorders Review. 2020;28(2):141–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Charbonneau, K, Seabrook, J. Adverse birth outcomes associated with types of eating disorders: A review. Can J Diet Pract Res. 2019;80(3):131–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grigoriadis, S, VonderPorten, EH, Mamisashvili, L et al. The effect of prenatal antidepressant exposure on neonatal adaptation: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Clin Psychiatry. 2013;74(4):e309–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rai, D, Lee, BK, Dalman, C, Golding, J, Lewis, G, Magnusson, C. Parental depression, maternal antidepressant use during pregnancy, and risk of autism spectrum disorders: Population based case-control study. BMJ. 2013;346:f2059.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Habermann, F, Fritzsche, J, Fuhlbrück, F et al. Atypical antipsychotic drugs and pregnancy outcome: A prospective, cohort study. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2013;33(4):453–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jansson, LM, Velez, M. Neonatal abstinence syndrome. Curr Opin Pediatr. 2012;24(2):252–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shallcross, R, Bromley, RL, Cheyne, CP, García-Fiñana, M, Irwin, B, Morrow, J, Baker, GA. In utero exposure to levetiracetam vs valproate: Development and language at 3 years of age. Neurology. 2014;82(3):213–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ban, L, Fleming, KM, Doyle, P et al. Congenital anomalies in children of mothers taking antiepileptic drugs with and without periconceptional high dose folic acid use: A population-based cohort study. PLoS One. 2015;10:e0131130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
British Association for Psychopharmacology. British Association for Psychopharmacology consensus guidance on the use of psychotropic medication preconception, in pregnancy and postpartum. 2017. www.bap.org.uk/pdfs/BAP_Guidelines-Perinatal.pdf.Google Scholar
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Management of women with mental health issues during pregnancy and the postnatal period. 2001. www.rcog.org.uk/media/4gikqggv/managementwomenmentalhealthgoodpractice14.pdf.Google Scholar
MBRRACE-UK. MBRRACE-UK – Saving lives, improving mothers’ care: Lessons learned to inform maternity care from the UK and Ireland confidential enquiries into maternal deaths and morbidity 2018–20. 2022. www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/mbrrace-uk/reports.Google Scholar
Catalao, R, Mann, S, Wilson, C et al. Preconception care in mental health services: Planning for a better future. BJPsych. 2020; 216(4):180–1.Google ScholarPubMed
Healthy London Partnerships. Pan-London Perinatal Mental Health Network. Pre-birth planning: Best practice toolkit for perinatal mental health services. 2019. www.healthylondon.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Pre-birth-planning-guidance-for-Perinatal-Mental-Health-Networks.pdf.Google Scholar
Dadi, AF, Miller, ER, Woodman R et al. Antenatal depression and its potential causal mechanisms among pregnant mothers in Gondar town: Application of structural equation model. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 2020;20(168). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-020-02859-2.Google Scholar
Marcus, SM. Depression during pregnancy: Rates, risks and consequences – motherisk update 2008. Can J Clin Pharmacol. 2009;16:e15–e22.Google ScholarPubMed

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×