Mental health in pregnancy: When to ask for help from a specialist?

Becoming a mother is not an easy process, especially when this occurs for the first time.Therefore, understanding what is happening with your body and mind during pregnancy is extremely relevant, since it will help you identify when the situations you are living are normal and when you should consult with a specialist medical team.

In this regard, Dr. Juan Pablo Undurraga, a German Clinic Psychiatrist, says that "the perinatal period is very important in life and is full of challenges for the mother, for her partner and for the entire family system."

Along these lines, he explains that changes are produced from multiple points of view, among which are:

"It is a period of high vulnerability and many women have symptoms of psychic discomfort or mental illnesses in this context," he adds.

Causes and Risk Factors

Dr. Undurraga is emphatic in commenting that “it is important to understand that mental illnesses in the perinatal period can affect anyone.Depression, for example, affects approximately 1 out of 10 pregnant women.The stigma associated with mental illnesses, expectations and social pressure, and lack of knowledge, make mental health invisible.As a consequence, many people do not receive adequate treatment. ”

That said, Macarena Silva, a German Clinic Psychologist, explains that, "despite the fact that there are multiple causes to suffer depression in the gestation stage, in general, four main risk factors are recognized."These are:

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1. Ansiedad durante el embarazo: se presenta por diversos motivos, ya sea por incertidumbre en estos tiempos de Covid-19, temores múltiples a lo que implica el embarazo, los cambios en las formas de vida, pérdidas anteriores,entre otros.
2. Acontecimientos vitales estresantes: estos pueden ocurrir durante el embarazo o al inicio del puerperio y van desde duelos, cesantía, separaciones, enfermedades, incluso a veces cambios de casa que pueden generar altos nivelesde tensiones y estrés en las pacientes en un periodo fundamental como es el embarazo.
3. Bajo nivel de apoyo social: aquí es evidentemente significativo tener apoyo de la pareja, pero también de la familia, amigos y un sistema social que sostenga a las mujeres embarazadas.
4. Antecedentes personales en salud mental: si hay una depresión basal, algún trastorno de personalidad o historial de mayores complejidades en términos de salud mental, aumenta el riesgo.

The way to prevent, “it is important to have a social network that is attentive to the possible complications of a pregnant woman in mental health fields.Therefore, it is extremely important that, in her pregnancy controls, the specialist in charge is alert to any exchange rate in terms of anxiety or depressive symptomatology, ”says German Clinic psychologist.

For the above, among other things, the Edinburgh scale is used.It is a questionnaire of 10 questions that is usually used from the second pregnancy control, to evaluate how the issue of mental health is."We have also tried to incorporate four questions that have to do with the four risk factors mentioned above," says the expert.

When to consult a specialist?

It is important to consult with a specialist in the area when there is a presence of symptoms of depression or doubts about the mental health of pregnant woman.According to Macarena Silva, among the symptoms to which attention must be paid to suspect depression in pregnancy are:

“These different symptomatologies are realizing a possibility that there could be some alteration and it would be good to consult a psychologist or psychiatrist, ideally from the perinatal mental health field.We, in general, propose that it is in the second pregnancy control, but if it is seen that from the beginning the aforementioned symptoms have been installed;Do it in the first quarter and do not hesitate to consult, ”says the specialist.It is also important that people who have a history of some mental disorder consult early, to be able to do adequate planning and accompaniment.

The importance of receiving proper treatment

Preventing these pathologies or treating them properly when they are already present is extremely relevant, because according to Dr. Undurraga, “significant stress or mental illnesses during pregnancy can affect the fetus or baby in those women who have symptoms in the post-part.This could translate into alterations of cognitive, emotional and physical development, which can persist over time even to adult life. ”

“In the mother, the symptoms can become serious, producing suffering and discomfort, in addition to complications that can threaten their life.For all this, it is relevant to make this issue visible and offer timely treatment, ”she adds.

Finally, both specialists agree that the treatment must be timely and comprehensive, incorporating all actors surrounding motherhood.The above includes from interventions focused on improving family support, to specific actions

that expand maternal resources, the ability to adapt to changes, to link with the baby, also address psychological issues associated with motherhood and in some cases, pharmacological.In this context, it is very important to work as a team with gynecologists, midwives, pediatricians, psychologists, psychiatrists, physiatrists, kinesiologists, among others.

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