YesWhile 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 is still not sufficiently addressed. However, the postpartum period, the fatigue of pregnancy and childbirth, isolation, lack of support and encounter with the child can cause significant vulnerability.
In a deafening silence, perinatal psychological disorders are the main perinatal complication in France. The numbers speak for themselves: two months after giving birth, more than one in four women has significant symptoms of anxiety, one in six has postpartum depression, and one in twenty has suicidal thoughts, according to a Public Health report. France, published in September. 2023.
This lack of consideration can have serious consequences for families. A first perinatal depressive episode increases the risk of depressive recurrence by 50%, according to a study from 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 with psychological discomfort have in providing quality interactions, essential for the good development of the child, can cause numerous problems in the short, medium and long term.
Several studies also show that girls whose mothers suffered from postpartum depression are at greater risk of emotional and psychological disorders after giving birth. Identifying mood disorders early and treating the mother means, therefore, preventing psychological disorders in children and, later, in future mothers.
Continue the awareness effort
Perinatal mental health has enjoyed real prominence since Covid-19, with beneficial advances such as the establishment of a mandatory early postnatal interview from 2022 or the extension of paternity or co-parenting leave. But, given the magnitude of the problems identified and their impact, these measures cannot be considered sufficient.
At a time when mental health has been identified as one of the leading national causes by 2025, let us make perinatal mental health one of the strengths of public health policies. If resources already exist, such as psychotherapy, mother-child units, adapted pharmacological treatments, it is absolutely necessary to strengthen the collective will to act.
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