Maternal mental health problems, commonly referred to as post-partum depression, are widespread and have both short- and long-term consequences on the mother and the child.
They comprise a wide spectrum of issues — depression, anxiety and phobias — and can start in pregnancy or anytime in the first year after the baby’s birth. Maternal mental health issues and concerns are often neglected and forgotten during infancy and childhood.
In the run up to the observation of World Breastfeeding Week this year (from August 1), the Bangalore Birth Network, in association with NIMHANS and WellMom by Healthy Mother, brought together psychiatrists and researchers to discuss the critical need for women’s wellbeing during pregnancy, here on Saturday.
The discussion ‘Maternal mental and emotional health: let’s talk about it!’ was attended by more than 30 professionals and concerned citizens, including Geetha Desai, consultant psychiatrist at the Perinatal Psychiatry Unit of NIMHANS, and Girish Rao, a public health researcher and advocate of maternal mental health at NIMHANS.
The group concurred that the healthcare community was not currently addressing the needs of maternal mental needs before and during post-partum.
“With a routine doctor’s consultation lasting for an average of 1.5 minutes, there is little or no time to adequately address the multiple complexities of maternal health or to provide psychological counselling,” one of the participants said.
Asha Kilaru from Bangalore Birth Network said a mother’s mental health had an impact on the foetus as a delicate bond is created between the two during pregnancy. Following birth, the mother’s mental state can affect her ability to breastfeed (an important determinant of the baby’s immunity to disease, infection, mental and emotional health and intelligence quotient). “There is enough research to indicate this,” she said.
