The Effect of Grandmothers’ Presence on the Provision of Multidisciplinary Perinatal Support for Pregnant and Postpartum Women with Psychosocial Problems

Abstract

Background

Pregnant and postpartum women with psychosocial problems are prone to face limited or absent perinatal functional support from biological grandmothers due to familial dysfunction. The study aimed to investigate whether the involvement and presence of biological maternal grandmothers providing practical support for their pre/postnatal daughters (ie, pregnant women) during the perinatal period may influence the number of support services provided by multidisciplinary agencies, including child consultation centers and municipal offices.

Participants and methods

This is a retrospective cohort study based on the medical records of all pregnant women with psychosocial problems that visited, gave birth, and received intervention from the hospital-based child protection unit at the Chiba University Hospital between February 2018 to March 2019. The primary outcome was to identify whether there was a difference in the number of multidisciplinary agencies providing perinatal support between pregnant women with and without the presence of functional support from biological maternal grandmothers during the perinatal period.

Results

We identified 114 pregnant and postpartum women with psychosocial problems. Seventy-six of these participants (66.7%) had functional support from their biological maternal grandmothers during the perinatal period, and 38 participants (33.3%) did not. The number of agencies involved with participants who lacked functional support was significantly higher than participants with functional support (t(55.14) = 2.98, p < 0.01). This finding was consistent among pregnant and postpartum primipara participants (n = 70) (t(68) = 3.87, p < 0.001), but not multipara (n = 44).

Conclusion

The findings indicate that the presence and functional support of biological maternal grandmothers influence the support that is needed from multidisciplinary perinatal support systems by pregnant and postpartum women with psychosocial problems. Primipara mothers without support from their own mothers may need greater multidisciplinary support.

Keywords:

• child maltreatment
• grandmother
• perinatal
• postpartum
• pregnancy
• psychosocial

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.jp) for English language editing. We declare that this work was financially supported by Satsuki-kai Sodegaura-Satsukidai Hospital, Japan. We would like to thank all the patients and doctors who participated in this study. We are particularly grateful to the clinical research nurses (Kaoru Ikeda, Chisako Fujishiro, and Chiharu Fujita), the research assistant (Komako Ito), and the members of CPT in Chiba University Hospital (Kyoko Tanabe, Ryoko Fukuhara, Saki Eshima, and Akiko Ichihara) for cooperating with this study at Chiba University Hospital.

Author Contributions

MO, TH, EM and MI designed this study. MO, RS, AS, MT and TH acquired data. MO, MT, and TH analyzed the data, and TH, MN, YS, EM, HW, MS, and MI interpreted the results. JO and MS made an evaluation of obstetrical and fetal outcomes. TH, JO, ME, NS made an assessment of child protection team as multidisciplinary support. MO and TH drafted the manuscript, and YS, EM, MS, HW, and MI revised the manuscript. MS, HW, EM and MI supervised the study. All authors contributed to data analysis, drafting or revising the article, gave final approval of the version to be published, and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

In accordance with Dove press policy and the authors’ ethical obligation as researchers, we are reporting that Dr. Hashimoto reported personal fees from research support of a clinical trial that the Signant Health company manages. Dr. Iyo received consultant fees from Janssen, Eli Lilly, Otsuka, and Meiji Seika Pharma and reports honoraria from Janssen, Eli Lilly, Otsuka, Meiji Seika Pharma, Astellas, Dainippon Sumitomo, Ono, Mochida, MSD, Eisai, Daiichi-Sankyo, Novartis, Teijin, Shionogi, Hisamitsu, and Asahi Kasei. The other authors report no potential conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

This study was implemented by the financial support of Sodegaura-Satsukidai Hospital. The Foundation had no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication.