2024-10-08 10:30:00
While many resources are devoted to preventing the physical complications of pregnancy, the mental health of young mothers remains a crucial aspect of our public health policy and one that is still insufficiently addressed. However, postpartum, the fatigue of pregnancy and childbirth, isolation, lack of support and meeting the child can cause significant vulnerability.
In a deafening silence, perinatal psychological disorders are the main perinatal complication in France. The figures speak for themselves: two months after giving birth, more than one in four women have significant symptoms of anxiety, one in six have postpartum depression and one in twenty have suicidal thoughts. according to a report from Public Health Francepublished in September 2023.
This lack of consideration can lead to severe consequences for families. A first perinatal depressive episode increases the risk of depressive recurrence by 50%according to a study by the University of Cambridge [Royaume-Uni]. Depression in one parent increases the risk of the other parent having a mood disorder. Finally, the difficulty that mothers in psychological distress have in providing quality interactions, fundamental for the good development of the child, can cause numerous problems in the short, medium and long term.
Also read the forum (2022) | Article reserved for our subscribers Sustaining “the 1,000 days” and developing the perinatal sector
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Several studies also show that girls whose mothers suffered from postpartum depression are themselves at an increased risk of emotional and psychological disorders after giving birth. Identifying mood disorders early and treating the mother is therefore prevent psychological disorders in children and, later, future mothers.
Continue the awareness-raising effort
Perinatal mental health has benefited from a real spotlight since Covid-19, with beneficial advances such as the establishment of a mandatory early postnatal interview since 2022 or the extension of paternity or co-parenting leave. But, given the scale of the problems identified and their impact, these measures cannot be considered sufficient.
At a time when mental health has been identified as a major national cause for 2025, let’s make perinatal mental health one of the strong points of public health policies. If resources already exist, such as psychotherapy, mother-baby units, adapted drug treatments, it is absolutely necessary to strengthen the collective will to act.
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