Project about mental health during pregnancy and postpartum highlights the need to reduce barriers to accessing professional help

English version: Diana Taborda

Over the past two years a research team from the University of Coimbra (UC) conducted a study aimed at understanding the decision-making process regarding treatment options by women who have anxiety or depression during pregnancy or postpartum. The research highlights the need to outline awareness strategies and to reduce barriers when women seek professional help.

The project “Women Choose Health”, led by Ana Fonseca – clinical psychologist and researcher at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Coimbra (UC) and the Centre for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive-Behaviour Intervention (CINEICC) – focused on the study of the perinatal period (from pregnancy to the first year postpartum), considered to be a time of great vulnerability to women, who may develop depressive or anxiety symptoms.

The project was implemented in Portugal by the UC and in Norway by the University of Oslo, and financed by the Fund for Bilateral Relations of EEA Grants. The research findings will be presented on the 5th of May.

In Portugal the research involved 421 pregnant or postpartum women who presented clinically relevant symptoms of anxiety and/or depression, seeking to understand their decision-making processes regarding treatment options (medication, psychotherapy or no treatment). The results showed that “Only 20% of women with clinically relevant symptoms of anxiety and/or depression were receiving some sort of treatment (pharmacological and/or psychological) at the time they participated in the study”, says Ana Fonseca.

The research coordinator highlights that “these results are worrying due to the negative effects of mental health issues on women and children during this period, and are a wake-up call for the need to outline strategies to raise public awareness and to reduce barriers for women during the process of finding professional help.”

In regard to treatment decisions, the UC researcher adds that the team “found that women who are not getting any kind of treatment experience more decisional conflict (such as the degree of uncertainty/doubt about which course of action to choose) and more stigma towards mental illness when compared to women who are being treated for their symptoms”.

The research team believes that the results of the "Women Choose Health" project " make us reflect on the importance of adopting strategies and tools to support women's decision-making during this period". Ana Fonseca adds that "it is important that health professionals involve women in the decision-making process, so that they become an active part of it, and help them make informed decisions consistent with their beliefs and values, which will thus enhance their commitment to the treatment chosen".

The public presentation of the research findings will be held at the Cognitive-Behavioural Clinical Psychology Unit of the University of Coimbra (UcC3), at Campus 1 - Faculty of Medicine building, 2nd floor.