Characteristics of patients seen by a community perinatal mental health service

Abstract

AIMS AND METHOD: Recent guidelines on perinatal mental health highlight the need to predict, detect and prevent mental illness in childbearing women, but there are a limited number of studies in this field. This study describes the characteristics of 277 service users newly referred to a specialist community perinatal mental health service over 1 year, and discusses the implications for effective management of mental illness related to childbearing. RESULTS: The most common diagnosis was affective disorder (51%), of which 8 had bipolar affective disorder. Almost three in five women had previous non-pregnancy- related psychiatric contact and a fourth had previous ante/postnatal psychiatric contact. More than half were on medication at conception, most commonly antidepressants (43%). CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: This study highlights the opportunities for identifying women at high risk of postnatal mental illness and the need for adequate pregnancy planning advice for women taking psychotropic medication.