Perinatal psychiatric episodes: a population-based study on treatment incidence and prevalence

Perinatal psychiatric episodes comprise various disorders and symptom severity, which are diagnosed and treated in multiple treatment settings. To date, no studies have quantified the incidence and prevalence of perinatal psychiatric episodes treated in primary and secondary care, which we aimed to do in the present study. We designed a descriptive prospective study and included information from Danish population registers to study first-time ever and recurrent psychiatric episodes during the perinatal period, including treatment at psychiatric facilities and general practitioners (GPs). This was done for all women who had records of one or more singleton births from 1998 until 2012. In total, we had information on 822 439 children born to 491 242 unique mothers. Results showed first-time psychiatric episodes treated at inpatient facilities were rare during pregnancy, but increased significantly shortly following childbirth (0.02 vs 0.25 per 1000 births). In comparison, first-time psychiatric episodes treated at outpatient facilities were more common, and showed little variation across pregnancy and postpartum. For every single birth resulting in postpartum episodes treated at inpatient psychiatric facilities, 2.5 births were followed by an episode treated at outpatient psychiatric facility and 12 births by GP-provided pharmacological treatment. We interpret our results the following way: treated severe and moderate psychiatric disorders have different risk patterns in relation to pregnancy and childbirth, which suggests differences in the underlying etiology. We further speculate varying treatment incidence and prevalence in pregnancy vs postpartum may indicate that the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 peripartum specifier not adequately describes at-risk periods across moderate and severe perinatal psychiatric episodes

Obstetrical, pregnancy and socio-economic predictors for new-onset severe postpartum psychiatric disorders in primiparous women

Background Childbirth is a potent trigger for the onset of psychiatric illness in women including postpartum depression (PPD) and postpartum psychosis (PP). Medical complications occurring during pregnancy and/or childbirth have been linked to postpartum psychiatric illness and sociodemographic factors. We evaluated if pregnancy and obstetrical predictors have similar effects on different types of postpartum psychiatric disorders. Method A population-based cohort study using Danish registers was conducted in 392 458 primiparous women with a singleton delivery between 1995 and 2012 and no previous psychiatric history. The main outcome was first-onset postpartum psychiatric episodes. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) were calculated for any psychiatric contact in four quarters for the first year postpartum. Results PPD and postpartum acute stress reactions were associated with pregnancy and obstetrical complications. For PPD, hyperemesis gravidarum [IRR 2.69, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.93-3.73], gestational hypertension (IRR 1.84, 95% CI 1.33-2.55), pre-eclampsia (IRR 1.45, 95% CI 1.14-1.84) and Cesarean section (C-section) (IRR 1.32, 95% CI 1.13-1.53) were associated with increased risk. For postpartum acute stress, hyperemesis gravidarum (IRR 1.93, 95% CI 1.38-2.71), preterm birth (IRR 1.51, 95% CI 1.30-1.75), gestational diabetes (IRR 1.42, 95% CI 1.03-1.97) and C-section (IRR 1.36, 95% CI 1.20-1.55) were associated with increased risk. In contrast, risk of PP was not associated with pregnancy or obstetrical complications. Conclusions Pregnancy and obstetrical complications can increase the risk for PPD and acute stress reactions but not PP. Identification of postpartum women requiring secondary care is needed to develop targeted approaches for screening and treatment. Future work should focus on understanding the contributions of psychological stressors and underlying biology on the development of postpartum psychiatric illness

The incidence of depressive episodes is different before, during, and after pregnancy: A population-based study

Background: Depressive episodes during pregnancy are widely investigated but it is still unknown whether pregnancy is a high-risk period compared to the pre-pregnancy period. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the incidence and recurrence of depressive episodes before, during, and after pregnancy. Methods: In the current population-based registry study, we calculated monthly incidence and recurrence of psychiatric inpatient admissions and outpatient psychiatric contact for depressive episodes. We identified a population consisting of all first childbirths in Denmark from 1999 through 2015 (N = 392,287). Results: Incidence of inpatient admission during pregnancy was lower than before pregnancy. After childbirth, a significant increase in first-time and recurrent psychiatric inpatient admissions was observed, especially in the first months. In contrast, outpatient psychiatric treatment incidence and recurrence were increased both during pregnancy as well as in the postpartum period, as compared to pre-pregnancy. Limitations: Analyses were performed on depressive episodes representing the severe end of the spectrum, questioning generalizability to milder forms of depression treated outside psychiatric specialist treatment facilities. Conclusion: We found a different pattern of severe episodes of depression compared to moderate episodes before, during, and after pregnancy. In light of our findings and those of others, we suggest distinguishing between timing of onset in the classification of depression in the perinatal period: Depression with pregnancy onset OR with postpartum onset (instead of the current DSM classifier “with perinatal onset”), as well as severity of depression, which is important for both clinical and future research endeavors

Cohort profile: Nausea and Vomiting during Pregnancy Genetics Consortium (NVP Genetics Consortium)

Nausea and vomiting during pregnancy (NVP), commonly known as morning sickness, is very common and is typically self-limiting. However, more severe forms and the development of hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), defined as persistent and excessive vomiting, with dehydration, ketonuria and >5% bodyweight loss,1 may lead to health consequences for the mother and the offspring exposed in utero. Despite efforts towards understanding the causes of NVP and HG, they are not well established. The NVP Genetics Consortium is an open collaborative network of researchers integrating data on NVP of women who have been pregnant at least once, with the goal of investigating NVP, NVP severity and HG. Currently, the NVP Genetics Consortium brings together data from Australia, Finland, Spain, the UK and Denmark. The Consortium is actively recruiting new members..