Understanding perinatal mental health problems : prevalence, risk factors, approaches to prevention, early identification and treatment

Becoming a mother is life changing. Pregnancy and the first year after birth (referred to here as the perinatal period) can be times of excitement and joy for women, their partners, and their families, but many women also encounter unexpected challenges, and, for some, this experience can be very distressing. This is particularly so for women with pre-existing physical or mental health conditions, who enter motherhood with additional needs. The mental health care of women in the perinatal period is a priority internationally (Austin, Highet, & the Expert Working Group, 2017; NICE, 2014). Perinatal mental health problems affect up to 20% of women each year (Schmied et al., 2013), for example, over 800,000 women in the US, over 140,000 women in England and Wales, and over 60,000 women in Australia (Khan, 2015) per year. Perinatal mental health problems impact women themselves, their families and communities, and also the mental, physical, emotional, and psychosocial development of their infants (Glover, O’Donnell, O’Connor, & Fisher, 2018). In this chapter I examine depression and anxiety experienced by women in the perinatal period. Issues addressed include the symptoms of perinatal depression and anxiety and the prevalence, risk factors, and approaches to early identification, treatment, and prevention of perinatal depression and anxiety in Australia and internationally. The importance of an integrated service system is discussed