Characterization of the population of pregnant women attending a mental health service

Authors

  • Tiago Ferreira Department of Mental Health, Hospital Prof. Doutor Fernando Fonseca
  • Sara Dehanov Department of Mental Health, Hospital Prof. Doutor Fernando Fonseca
  • Catarina Oliveira Department of Mental Health, Hospital Prof. Doutor Fernando Fonseca
  • Sara Castro Department of Mental Health, Hospital Prof. Doutor Fernando Fonseca
  • Raquel Ribeiro Department of Mental Health, Hospital Prof. Doutor Fernando Fonseca
  • Teresa Maia Department of Mental Health, Hospital Prof. Doutor Fernando Fonseca

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25753/BirthGrowthMJ.v29.i3.17113

Keywords:

mental health, perinatal care, pregnancy, psychopathology

Abstract

Introduction: Psychopathological symptoms are common during pregnancy and their detection and referral to specialized care is often suboptimal. The aim of this study was to perform a descriptive analysis of sociodemographic, mental health, and obstetric features of a population of pregnant women followed at Psychiatry consultation.
Methodology: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study of women followed both at Gynecology/Obstetrics and Psychiatry consultations of Hospital Prof. Doutor Fernando Fonseca between 2014 and 2016. A total of 76 women were included, for whom pre-defined features associated in the literature with risk of developing psychopathological symptoms during pregnancy were collected.
Results and Discussion: Risk factors identified in the development of depressive symptoms included absence of an affective relationship during pregnancy (n=11; 14.5%), being first-generation immigrant (n=17; 22.4%), and substance use before (n=18; 23.7%) or during (n=10; 13.1%) pregnancy. Sample was divided into women with previous Psychiatry follow-up who became pregnant (n=44; 57.9%) and women referred to Psychiatry consultation during pregnancy (n=32; 42.1%). In the second group, 18.8% (n=6) of referrals were from primary health care, being relevant to understand whether this represents an under-referral.
Prescription of 21 risk category D drugs was identified, alerting to the need of caution in pharmacological prescription and of considering non-pharmacological options (e.g., cognitive-behavioral therapy) for management of these cases.
Conclusions: Risk factors identified in this study represent an opportunity to optimize clinical practice and improve these patients’ follow-up.

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Author Biography

Tiago Ferreira, Department of Mental Health, Hospital Prof. Doutor Fernando Fonseca

Interno Formação Específica em Psiquiatria

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Published

2020-08-06

How to Cite

1.
Ferreira T, Dehanov S, Oliveira C, Castro S, Ribeiro R, Maia T. Characterization of the population of pregnant women attending a mental health service. REVNEC [Internet]. 2020Aug.6 [cited 2024Mar.28];29(3):135-41. Available from: https://revistas.rcaap.pt/nascercrescer/article/view/17113

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Section

Original Articles