Listen: One in four pregnant women suffer mental health problems, research finds

An Aberdeenshire mum has told her story to Northsound News

Pregnant woman with her partner
Author: Phil McDonaldPublished 4th Jan 2018

One in four pregnant women suffers from mental health problems, research has revealed, and scientists say identifying issues early could be vital for a healthy pregnancy.

Although in line with the national average, the research by scientists at King's College London further debunked the myth that pregnancy boosts physical and mental health.

Nationally an average of one in five women experience some form of mental health disorder during their lifetimes, while this jumps to one in four in young women.

Depression and anxiety were among the most common disorders among pregnant women but eating disorders and obsessive compulsive disorders both made up 2% of cases.

The study, the first of its kind in the UK, aimed to identify how common disorders were during pregnancy and how midwives can best identify them to ensure a speedy referral to mental health services.

Victoria Kennedy from Aberdeenshire told Northsound News about her struggle with mental health issues during pregnancy, and what led her to seek help.

One of the study's authors, Louise Howard, professor of women's mental health at King's College, said: "We wanted to establish the prevalence of the range of disorders because there has been a tendency to focus on depression in the past.

"As mental disorders in general can affect women and their families, it was important to know just how common all the disorders were.''

She continued: "Our findings support the idea that pregnancy is not protective, which is what people used to think.

"There was a myth that pregnancy was a time of great blooming health and it was the postnatal period that was the one to be concerned about when people were thinking about mental disorders.''

She emphasised that pregnancy was not necessarily a cause of a mental health problem but said it could provide medical professionals with a great opportunity to identify an issue.

"It can be a way to prevent a mental health problem becoming chronic and prevent problems during the postnatal period,'' she said.

The research was funded by the National Institute of Health Research and focused on a sample of 545 pregnant women over the age of 16 attending a south-east London maternity clinic.