Emma Motrico

A review published in The Lancet Psychiatry has examined the prevalence of major depressive disorder during pregnancy, the peripartum period—immediately before and after childbirth—and the postpartum period—up to twelve months after childbirth. The study, which used data from more than two million women and girls aged 10 to 59 from all regions of the world, showed that approximately one in 15 (6.8%) is affected by major depression during the year following childbirth and that the prevalence was highest during the first two weeks after childbirth (8.3%). The authors call for greater integration of screening, prevention, and treatment of this disorder during the peripartum period into current care models.

A review of epidemiological data examines the physical and psychological complications that occur after childbirth in the medium and long term. More than a third of women reported lasting, and often neglected, health problems six weeks after childbirth. The most common complaints were: pain during sexual intercourse (35%), lower back pain (32%), urinary incontinence (8-31%), anxiety (9-24%), anal incontinence (19%), depression (11-17%) or significant fear of childbirth (6-15%). In their paper, published today in the journal The Lancet Global Health as part of a special series, the authors stress the importance of providing comprehensive health services beyond six weeks postpartum.