Postpartum mental illness during the COVID-19 pandemic: a population-based, repeated cross-sectional study
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- RE: Postpartum mental health during the COVID-19 pandemicEster di Giacomo [MD, PhD], Elena Andreini [MD], Fabrizia Colmegna [MD] and Massimo Clerici [MD, PhD]Posted on: 19 July 2021
- Posted on: (19 July 2021)Page navigation anchor for RE: Postpartum mental health during the COVID-19 pandemicRE: Postpartum mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Ester di Giacomo [MD, PhD], Psychiatrist, School of Medicine and Surgery-University of Milan Bicocca- Italy; Psychiatric Department -ASST Monza – Italy
- Other Contributors:
- Elena Andreini, Resident
- Fabrizia Colmegna, Psychiatrist
- Massimo Clerici, Professor of Psychiatry; Head of Psychiatry Department
Dear Editor,
We read with interest the recent publication by Vigod and colleagues. Authors analysed the amount of visits to primary care physician or to psychiatrist due to any mental disorder in postpartum women during the COVID-19 pandemic. The rate of visits among postpartum people in the first nine months of the COVID-19 pandemic surged, suggesting an increased need. The most common disorders were anxiety disorders, depressive disorder, alcohol and substance use disorders, and they happened earlier in the postpartum. The use of non-acute care services was thus increased, suggesting the need of implementing them in a sensible period like pandemic. We would like to support their evidence with our data. We analyzed 2270 women in pregnancy and postpartum during the first six months of 2019 and the first six months of 2020, the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the EPDS. Eight Hundred Fifty Nine women gave birth during the first six months of 2019 while 919 women delivered during the first six months of 2020. The EPDS mean total score in 2019 was significantly lower than the mean total score in 2020 (p=0.01). Our data supports their evidence about mental health worsening conditions experienced by postpartum women during the COVID-19 pandemic. We agree with Vigod et al.’s suggestion of implementing mental health services for that fragile sub-population during tough time or emergency.Competing Interests: None declared.References
- Vigod SN, Brown HK, Huang A, et al. Postpartum mental illness during the COVID-19 pandemic: a population-based, repeated cross-sectional study. CMAJ 2021;193:E835-E843
- di Giacomo E, Passoni P, Camerin C, et al. The first systematic Italian screening for post-partum depression: results from the first 6 months of the Northern Italy “Regional Screening for Post Partum Depression” project and networking. under review
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