More research is needed to improve the identification and treatment of women with perinatal mental health issues, according to a new editorial co-authored by Professor Susan Ayers, the lead of the Centre for Maternal and Child Health Research at City University London.
Along with co-author Judy Shakespeare, from the Royal College of General Practitioners, Professor Ayers' article highlights how between 10 and 20 per cent of women suffer from mental health problems during this period, costing the NHS £1.2 billion a year. The editorial is published in the journal of Primary Health Care Research & Development.
Mental health problems can arise in pregnancy or after birth and most commonly consist of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following a difficult birth and stress-related conditions such as adjustment disorder. Severe postnatal mental illness, such as puerperal psychosis, is less common, but is one of the leading indirect causes of maternal death.
[For more of this story, written by George Wigmore, go to http://medicalxpress.com/news/...thers-pregnancy.html]
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