Parenting and perinatal depression: meeting women’s needs

Abstract

Introduction: Symptoms of depression during pregnancy and the postpartum period can negatively impact parenting. It is important to understand the parenting experiences of women with depression, and what parenting support they need.

Methods: This is a mixed methods analysis of data (demographic data, depression outcomes, patient survey results, and transcripts of patient and care manager focus groups) from an open treatment trial of the feasibility of delivering perinatal depression treatment using collaborative care in a rural obstetric setting.

Results: Patients who attended focus groups did not differ significantly from those who did not. Qualitative analysis of focus groups revealed the following themes: Maternal mood and parenting difficulties are interrelated; Access to depression treatment is complicated by expectations for the perinatal period and by factors related to parenting; Women want parenting support in the context of treatment for perinatal depression.

Conclusion: Women receiving perinatal depression treatment experience unique parenting challenges and desire parenting support. Healthcare providers caring for these women should be mindful of their patients’ parenting needs. Future research should explore ways to integrate parenting interventions with depression treatments. Mother–infant interaction is a key determinant of optimal infant development and integrating parenting support with perinatal depression treatments can have significant public health impact.

Keywords:

• Parenting
• perinatal depression
• qualitative

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Care Managers: Terel Cuevas, Celisa Hopkins and Jennifer Sumner; all the patients who participated in the trial; Johnny Mao, MPH and Mindy Vredevoogd, MS who ensured the smooth running of the project, and Roger Rowles, MD for implementing Collaborative Care in his clinic.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Current knowledge on this subject

• Depression during pregnancy and postpartum is common and is associated with negative maternal and child outcomes.

• Depression during pregnancy and postpartum can lead to significant and persistent dysfunction.

• Specifically, women with perinatal depression experience challenges adjusting to the parenting role.

What this study adds

• The parenting role contributes to delays in acknowledging and seeking help for symptoms of depression.

• Women would like parenting support to be part of their depression treatment.

• The support offered should be responsive to the patient’s unique needs, with regard to parenting, depression severity and parity.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by National Institute of Mental Health. NIMH R01 MH085668, PI Unützer; NIMH 537 T32 MH20021 Psychiatry-Primary Care Fellowship Program Training Grant, PI Unützer