Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T01:54:14.306Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

8 - Anxiety and mood disorders in pregnancy and the postpartum period

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2009

Anne Buist
Affiliation:
Austin Health, Repatriation Campus, Department of Psychiatry, West Heidelberg, Vic., Australia
Lori E. Ross
Affiliation:
Women's Mental Health & Addiction Research Section, Centre for Addiction & Mental Health, Toronto, Ont., Canada
Meir Steiner
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry Behavioural Neurosciences and Obstetrics & Gynecology, McMasters University, St Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton, Ont., Canada
David Castle
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne
Jayashri Kulkarni
Affiliation:
Monash University, Victoria
Kathryn M. Abel
Affiliation:
University of Manchester
Jill Goldstein
Affiliation:
Harvard Medical School
Get access

Summary

Mental illness either in pregnancy or postpartum has significant and potentially serious long-term deleterious outcomes, not just for the woman but also for her entire family, and in particular, for her infant.

The immediate effects of depression, anxiety and stress during pregnancy include an increase in the rate of pre-term delivery, lower APGAR scores, lower birth weights and smaller head circumference (Dayan et al., 2002; Hedegaard et al., 1996; Lou et al., 1994; Orr & Miller, 1995; Orr et al., 2002; Steer et al., 1992; Wichers et al., 2002). It is as yet unclear whether these effects are related directly to physiological changes occurring in the depressed mother, in particular those associated with stress responses along the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (Dieter et al., 2001; Gitau et al., 2001; Lockwood, 1999; Sandman et al., 1997; Weinstock, 1997); or indirectly as a result of poor health behaviours (Lindgren, 2001; Zuckerman et al., 1989).

The long-term adverse effects of prenatal depression, anxiety and stress on the offspring have been known for some time and are well documented. For example, newborns of depressed mothers consistently show behavioural differences and developmental problems when compared to infants born to non-depressed mothers (Grace et al., 2003; Jones et al., 1998; Lundy & Field, 1996; Lundy et al., 1999; Martins & Gasffan, 2000; Weinberg & Tronick, 1998).

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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.)

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
×