scholarly journals Perinatal mental health around the world: priorities for research and service development in The Netherlands

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Iris Leppers ◽  
Cornelis Pieter Matthijs Veth ◽  
Dieuwertje Anna de Waardt ◽  
Hanneke Migchels ◽  
Maria Johanna Traa

The Netherlands has an unique system of perinatal and postpartum healthcare. Pregnancy care is delivered predominantly by primary care midwives and childbirth services predominantly involve hospital care. The first week postpartum, all women receive daily care from maternity nurses. In addition, hospitals and out-patient clinics offer perinatal mental healthcare. More specifically, ‘POP care’ (psychiatry, obstetrics and paediatrics) was developed to promote multidisciplinary collaboration in this regard. Although clinical practices and government initiatives to improve pregnancy-related mental healthcare work well, they have yet to be fully described and evaluated. The current COVID-19 pandemic has an impact on health services and perinatal mental health.

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birgitta Wickberg ◽  
Marie Bendix ◽  
Margareta Blomdahl Wetterholm ◽  
Alkistis Skalkidou

Sweden has a unique opportunity to identify and follow up women presenting with, or at risk for, perinatal mental health problems and disorders because universal screening programmes are provided by its primary healthcare system. Although they are implemented across almost the entire population, screening programmes are not necessarily leading to effective interventions because the multidisciplinary perinatal mental healthcare teams that provide for the assessment and treatment of moderate to severe disorders are very few in number and must be increased. In particular, efforts to reach immigrant parents must be intensified to achieve equal quality of care for all.


2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 544-564
Author(s):  
Christien Muusse ◽  
Hans Kroon ◽  
Cornelis L. Mulder ◽  
Jeannette Pols

Abstract Deinstitutionalization is often described as an organizational shift of moving care from the psychiatric hospital towards the community. This paper analyses deinstitutionalization as a daily care practice by adopting an empirical ethics approach instead. Deinstitutionalization of mental healthcare is seen as an important way of improving the quality of lives of people suffering from severe mental illness. But how is this done in practice and which different goods are strived for by those involved? We examine these questions by giving an ethnographic description of community mental health care in Trieste, a city that underwent a radical process of deinstitutionalization in the 1970s. We show that paying attention to the spatial metaphors used in daily care direct us to different notions of good care in which relationships are central. Addressing the question of how daily care practices of mental healthcare outside the hospital may be constituted and the importance of spatial metaphors used may inform other practices that want to shape community mental health care.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 96-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dzmitry Krupchanka ◽  
Petr Winkler

The article examines the current state of mental healthcare systems in countries of Eastern Europe and derives implications for future research and service development. Analysis of available statistics from the World Health Organization's Mental Health Atlas suggests the need for better-quality data collection. Nonetheless, there appear to be insufficient resources allocated to mental health, lack of involvement of service users in policy-making and, to a large extent, systems continue to rely on mental hospitals. Based on the data presented, a set of directions for future reforms was drafted.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 50-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Eliane Schwank ◽  
Qiongjie Zhou ◽  
Yanling He ◽  
Ganesh Acharya

China's healthcare is improving together with rapid economic growth. Yet, mental healthcare is lagging behind. Prevalence of perinatal depression is high among women of the one-child generation, but access to qualified care is limited. Chinese healthcare professionals, policy makers and patients alike express concerns about insufficient knowledge among the public as well as healthcare providers regarding mental disorders. There appears to be a general lack of help-seeking behaviour for mental disorders owing to perceived risk of social stigmatisation. Social support through family and friends, use of online resources and community healthcare services are preferred, rather than seeking help from mental health specialists.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sundarnag Ganjekar ◽  
Anilkumar Viswananthan Thekkethayyil ◽  
Prabha S. Chandra

Maternal mental health disorders are a significant problem for mother–infant dyads in India, but have not received the attention that they should. However, recent major developments hold promise: the increase in coverage of the District Mental Health Programme; the growing emphasis in public health systems on newborn health; integration of maternal mental health into the Reproductive and Child Health Programme in the state of Kerala; and the Mental Health Care Act 2017, which mandates mother–infant joint care when a mother is admitted for mental illness, will lead to policy changes in services. Innovative implementation and translational research is needed to generate knowledge to strengthen maternal mental healthcare systems and improve maternal and child outcomes. Valuable ‘research rupees’ should be spent on ensuring equity of resources for physical and mental healthcare of mothers and providing optimal environments for every mother–infant dyad.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nayra Anna Martin-Key ◽  
Benedetta Spadaro ◽  
Thea Sofie Schei ◽  
Sabine Bahn

BACKGROUND Perinatal mental health symptoms commonly remain underdiagnosed and undertreated in maternity care settings in the UK, with outbreaks of disease, like the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, further disrupting access to adequate mental health support. Digital technologies may offer an innovative way to support the mental health needs of women and their families throughout the perinatal period, as well as assist midwives in the recognition of perinatal mental health concerns. However, little is known about the acceptability and perceived benefits and barriers to using such technologies. OBJECTIVE To conduct a mixed methods evaluation of the current state of perinatal mental healthcare provision in the UK, as well as users’ (women and partners) and midwives’ interest in using a digital mental health assessment throughout the perinatal period. METHODS Eight hundred and twenty-nine women, 103 partners, and 90 midwives participated in the study, which entailed completing an online survey. Quantitative data were explored using descriptive statistics. Open-ended response data were first investigated using thematic analysis. Resultant themes were then mapped onto the components of the Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation Model of Behavior (COM-B model) and summarized using descriptive statistics. RESULTS The provision of adequate perinatal mental healthcare support was limited, with experiences varying significantly across respondents. There was a strong interest in using a digital mental health assessment to screen, diagnose, and triage perinatal mental health concerns, particularly among women and midwives. The digital assessment was seen to be well placed within maternity healthcare settings, with in-person only and blended care (i.e., in-person and remote support) approaches being preferred by women and partners in the event of further care being advised. Identified benefits and barriers mainly related to physical opportunity (e.g., accessibility), psychological capability (e.g., cognitive skills) and automatic motivation (e.g., emotions). CONCLUSIONS This study provides proof-of-concept support for the development and implementation of a digital mental health assessment to inform clinical decision-making in the assessment of perinatal mental health concerns in the UK.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pietro Grussu ◽  
Ilaria Lega ◽  
Rosa Maria Quatraro ◽  
Serena Donati

In Italy, most studies on perinatal mental health and initiatives aimed at improving the early detection and management of perinatal mental disorders have been carried out at the local level. National population-based studies are lacking. A study of pregnant women, recruited and diagnosed by a university hospital, found a 12.4% prevalence of minor and major depression during pregnancy, and a prevalence of 9.6% in the postpartum period. In a population-based surveillance system, covering 77% of national births, suicide was identified to be one of the main causes of maternal death within the first year after birth, yet half of those who were known to have a high suicide risk during the postpartum period had not been referred to a mental health service. The value of recognising depressive or anxiety symptoms early, during pregnancy, has been emphasised by recent research and should be linked to multi-professional psychosocial interventions. Since 2017, the Italian public primary care services that are dedicated to pregnancy assistance (Family Care Centres) have been tasked to provide free psychological assessment to pregnant and postpartum women. Action is now needed in order to improve access to Italian Family Care Centres for pregnant women and to develop an integrated care model involving obstetric and mental health services.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Magnhild Singstad Høivik ◽  
Malin Eberhard-Gran ◽  
Catharina Elisabeth Arfwedson Wang ◽  
Signe Karen Dørheim

Despite the country's generous social welfare systems, perinatal mental health problems are prevalent in Norway. National guidelines recommend that health services identify women with perinatal mental conditions, but systematic screening and clear treatment pathways are not nationally endorsed, neither are recommendations for evaluating and treating possible parent–infant interaction difficulties of affected mothers. There are no subspecialties in perinatal psychiatry or psychology, hence healthcare personnel often lack expertise about perinatal mental health. To safeguard the mental health of infants and parents, we need to establish systematic communication between primary healthcare professionals, as well as between primary- and secondary-level professionals.


2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (12) ◽  
pp. 445-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Kosky ◽  
Clifford Hoyle

Aims and methodPrison mental health inreach teams (PMHITs) were introduced in response to policy from 2003. This provision comes under the responsibility of the National Health Service. Service development and structure was not defined in policy. A total of 97 prisons of an estimated 100 known to have a PMHIT were targeted by postal questionnaire and responses covered 62 prisons. Team structures were captured in the data with specific regard to the number of available professional sessions.ResultsFindings determine there is generally no correlation between input and prison capacity, although there was some evidence of correlation in the high secure (category A) estate and that the female estate was generally better served.Clinical implicationsIt is evident from this study that PMHITs have evolved piecemeal, with no clear standards or equity across the estate. This is of concern.


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