Women Choose Health: Portuguese project on mental health during pregnancy and postpartum. Walls need to be destroyed in accessing professional help.
Only one out of five women with symptoms anxiety and/or depressionat pregnancy or not post childbirthis being treated in Portugal.
This is an alert that appears in a study led by a research team from the University of Coimbra.
The project is called Women Choose Health and it took place over the last two years, in Portugal and Norway (by the University of Oslo, in this case).
Its main objective was to know the decisions of pregnant or postpartum women in relation to the options for treatment when experiencing anxiety or depression.
It focused on the analysis of the period perinatal: between pregnancy and the first year after childbirth, which is considered a time of great vulnerability for women, who may develop depressive symptoms or anxiety.
Participated in the study 421 women pregnant women or in the postpartum period, with symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. They revealed whether they had resorted to medication, psychotherapy – or nothing at all.
Just 20% of women with clinically relevant symptoms of anxiety and/or depression were, at the time of study participation, receiving some type of treatment (pharmacological and/or psychological), reads in the information sent to ZAP.
It’s a number that worriesaccording to clinical psychologist Ana Fonseca, a researcher at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at the University of Coimbra and at the Research Center for Neuropsychology and Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention.
“These data are worrying taking into account the negative consequences for women and childrendas psychological disorders in this period; and alert us to the need to devise awareness strategies and to barrier reduction in the search process professional help in this period”, highlighted the leader of the investigation.
With regard to the treatments chosen, it was found that women who are not receiving any type of treatment “show greater decisional conflict (such as the degree of uncertainty/doubt about which course of action to choose) and more stigma about illness mentalcompared to women who are receiving some treatment for their symptoms”.
The research team emphasizes that it is necessary to have strategies and tools to support women’s decision-making during this period.
“It is important for health professionals to woman at the center of decisionmaking them an active element and helping them to make informed decisions consistent with their beliefs and values, which will enhance adherence to the chosen treatment option”, concludes researcher Ana Fonseca.
ZAP // 
