ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Childbearing should be a happy time for women and their families. However, research has shown us that psychological and psychiatric abnormalities during pregnancy and the postnatal period are common and that episodes of mood disorder occurring at this time are of significant clinical and public health importance, with suicide a leading cause of maternal death in the developed world (1,2). Provision of services to support the mental health needs of women during pregnancy and the post-partum varies enormously across the world, with countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, for example, investing more towards service provision in recent decades. Pregnancy and childbirth are major life events when women are susceptible to both physiological and psychological stress. This ‘stress’, whatever the aetiology, may cause newonset psychopathology and morbidity as well as causing difficulties for women who have chronic psychological or mental health problems. Most vulnerable women have multiple stressors, such as sexual, reproduction or social problems. Women are at risk of related life events such as relationship, employment or financial difficulties. The psychological response to a new baby, no matter how planned the pregnancy is, may vary from joy to despair. The response may depend on factors such as the woman’s own perspective on the pregnancy, and social circumstances such as adequate support, expectations of motherhood and cultural beliefs. Women’s mental health may be at risk secondary to physical health problems or a personal or family predisposition to mental illness.
