New Delhi, Sep 22 There is an urgent need to integrate perinatal maternal mental health into national programmes to help fight postpartum depression, anxiety and other such conditions among new mothers, said health experts on Monday.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), worldwide, about 10 per cent of pregnant women and 13 per cent of women who have just given birth experience a mental disorder, primarily depression.
India has more than 25 million births per year, but most women with mental health problems during pregnancy and one year after birth (the “perinatal period”) go undetected and untreated, especially in rural areas.
A recent systematic review among perinatal women in India found that the prevalence rates for perinatal depression ranged from 14-24 per cent in community-based studies, while some meta-analyses reported a pooled estimate of around 22 per cent for postpartum depression.
Although maternal mortality in India has reduced by over 50 per cent since the early 2000s to 97 deaths per 100,000, maternal suicide constitutes an increasing proportion of maternal deaths. A recent report in Kerala estimated that maternal suicide accounted for nearly one in five maternal deaths in 2020.
“There is an urgent need to integrate perinatal maternal mental health into national programmes in India,” said Prof. Rajesh Sagar, AIIMS.
Speaking at an expert consultation on perinatal mental health in the national capital, the expert raised concerns over the lack of a dedicated initiative to support new mothers facing mental health issues.
“While women’s mental health is mentioned in policies such as the National Mental Health Policy 2014, the Mental Health Care Act 2017, and others, there is no dedicated programme or screening mechanism in place,” Sagar said.
The experts, including Prof. Prabha Chandra from NIMHANS, highlighted gaps in training for doctors, nurses, and ASHAs, the lack of culturally relevant tools, and the stigma that prevents women from seeking psychological help even when screened positive.
They called for state-specific strategies, collaboration across states, capacity building, and mandatory history-taking during antenatal care.
“It is critical to ensure that perinatal mental health is not seen as a standalone as this might increase the stigma and discrimination that women with perinatal mental health problems face; rather it should be included within the routine antenatal and postnatal care that pregnant and lactating women receive, thus making it sustainable,” said Dr. Y.K. Sandhya, Program Lead – Mental Health, The George Institute for Global Health India.
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