Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Oct 20;9(11):e20958.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20958. eCollection 2023 Nov.

Psychiatric illness and pregnancy: A literature review

MohsenM A Abdelhafez  1 , KarimA M Ahmed  2 , NashwaA M Ahmed  3 , MohdHamdy Ismail  4 , Mohd Nazri Bin Mohd Daud  5 , Nicholas Pang Tze Ping  6 , AyaM Eldiasty  2 , Mohd Fariz Bin Amri  7 , Mohammad Saffree Jeffree  8 , Fairrul Kadir  9 , Dg Marshitah Pg Baharuddin  1 , Mohammed Firdaus Bin Bolong  9 , Firdaus Hayati  10 , Nornazirah BtAzizan  11 , Doreen Sumpat  6 , Syed Sharizman Syed Abdul Rahim  8 , Ehab Helmy Abdel Malek  1
Affiliations

Psychiatric illness and pregnancy: A literature review

MohsenM A Abdelhafez et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Background: Women of reproductive age frequently suffer from psychiatric disorders. The risk of developing anxiety, bipolar, and depressive disorders is especially significant during the perinatal period.

Objectives: This article aims to identify and discuss the different psychiatric conditions that might affect pregnant women and update the mother's carers about the recent and updated bidirectional relationship between psychiatric disease and adverse pregnancy outcomes, As well as the most updates in diagnostic and management strategies.

Methods: A thorough analysis of the literature was conducted using database searches in EMBASE, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Scopus, and PubMed to obtain the objectives and aim of the study.

Results: The presence of maternal mental illness during pregnancy has been linked to preterm delivery, newborn hypoglycemia, poor neurodevelopmental outcomes, and disturbed attachment. Placental anomalies, small-for-gestational-age foetuses, foetal discomfort, and stillbirth are among more undesirable perinatal outcomes.

Conclusions: Pregnancy-related psychiatric disorders are frequent. The outcomes for pregnant women, infants, and women's health are all improved by proper diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric problems.

Keywords: Anxiety; Depressive disorders; Foetal distress; Neonatal hypoxia; Preterm delivery; Psychatric illness.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

References

    1. Meltzer-Brody S., Maegbaek M.L., Medland S.E., Miller W.C., Sullivan P., Munk-Olsen T. Psychological Medicine. Cambridge University Press; 2017. Obstetrical, pregnancy and socio-economic predictors for new-onset severe postpartum psychiatric disorders in primiparous women; p. 1427. 41. - PMC - PubMed
    1. França U.L., McManus M.L. Frequency, trends, and antecedents of severe maternal depression after three million U.S. births. PLoS One. 2018;13 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192854. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Houston K.A., Kaimal A.J., Nakagawa S., Gregorich S.E., Yee L.M., Kuppermann M. Mode of delivery and postpartum depression: the role of patient preferences. Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 2015;212:229.e1–229.e7. - PubMed
    1. Abajobir A.A., Maravilla J.C., Alati R., Najman J.M. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between unintended pregnancy and perinatal depression. J. Affect. Disord. 2016;192:56–63. - PubMed
    1. Lok I.H., Neugebauer R. Psychological morbidity following miscarriage. Best Pract. Res. Clin. Obstet. Gynaecol. 2007;21:229–247. - PubMed