Article
Support preferences of women with and without postpartum depression and anxiety disorder in Germany
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Authors
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Vanessa Zieß
- Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine, Medical Faculty, TU Dresden, Germany
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Lara Seefeld
- Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Germany
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Amera Mojahed
- Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine, Medical Faculty, TU Dresden, Germany
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Julia Schellong
- Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Germany
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Susan Garthus-Niegel
- Institute for Systems Medicine (ISM), Medical School Hamburg (MSH), Hamburg, Germany
| Published: | February 7, 2024 |
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Outline
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Background: Some women struggle with mental health problems such as postpartum depression (PPD) or postpartum anxiety disorder (PAD) after giving birth. This can have a negative impact on the new mother, the infant, and the whole family. However, many women experiencing PPD and/or PAD go unrecognized and untreated. Since appropriate support is essential, efforts should be made to facilitate women’s help-seeking behavior.
Aim/research question: The purpose of this study was to improve the mental health of postpartum women by understanding their specific support preferences. To this end, the preferences for counseling and treatment services as well as the service delivery mode among women with PPD, PAD, comorbid PPD and PAD, and women with neither PPD nor PAD were examined.
Methods: In the cross-sectional study INVITE, mothers (n=2,031) were interviewed via telephone about three to four months after delivery. PPD was assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), PAD was assessed using the anxiety scale of the Symptom-Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), and preferences for services and delivery modes were assessed using self-generated questionnaires. Analyses of variance were performed to examine differences between the symptomatology groups.
Results: All women preferred the support of (family) midwives and family, friends, or colleagues and to talk to someone in person. Analyses of variance showed that, overall, women with PPD preferred all services less than women with neither PPD nor PAD. Furthermore, women with PPD preferred psychotherapeutic services (e.g., inpatient clinic and outpatient clinic/treatment) less, and women with comorbid PPD and PAD preferred professional and personal confidants (e.g., midwife and woman in the same situation) less than all other women. Women did not differ in their preferences for service delivery mode.
Relevancy: This study provides unique insight into postpartum women’s preferences for various services and delivery modes, which has to date not been studied in detail in a large sample of women from Germany.
Recommendations/conclusions: Results showed that women differ in their preferences for services depending on their symptoms. This should be considered when making referrals, and postpartum support should be better tailored to mothers’ wishes and needs to improve help-seeking behavior and ultimately postpartum mental health.
Ethics and conflicts of interest: The Ethics Committee of the Technische Universität Dresden (No: EK 139042016) reviewed and approved the concept and content of the INVITE study to be carried out in the proposed way. The INVITE study received funding from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. There are no conflicts of interest.
