Perinatal psychiatric emergencies in rural Australia: In urgent need of attention

Abstract

Objectives: The burden of perinatal mental illness is a significant global concern, affecting approximately 10-20% of women at this stage of life. It is well recognised that Rural Australia has far less health services and mental health specialists per capita than metropolitan regions. While women have more babies in rural settings, their access to maternal health care is conversely limited or absent. We highlight the urgent need for research, adaptation of clinical practice guidelines and service development to address the lack of specialist perinatal mental health services for women in rural Australia for emergency episodes of mental ill health in the perinatal period. While telehealth services have been utilised to bridge the gap in service provision, in this paper we articulate the need for innovative research to identify suitable and sustainable models of care in rural settings.

Conclusion: Perinatal psychiatric emergencies represent a highly interventional area of psychiatry. Across the spectrum of psychiatric disorders, few can be attributed with such specificity in anticipated time of disease onset and severity of outcome. It is imperative that we address the lack of access to speciality perinatal psychiatric care for women who reside in rural Australia.

Keywords: mental health; perinatal; rural.