The Psychiatrist (2009) 33: 368-370. doi: 10.1192/pb.bp.108.020693
© 2009 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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Characteristics of patients seen by a community perinatal mental health service

Amanullah Durrani, ST4 in General Adult Psychiatry

South Staffordshire and Shropshire Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Shelton Hospital, Bicton Heath, Shrewsbury SY3 8DN, email: amandurrani{at}gmail.com

Roch Cantwell, Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrist

Perinatal Mental Health Service, Southern General Hospital, Glasgow

Declaration of interest

None.

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.