Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-77c78cf97d-7rbh8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-03T02:11:53.777Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 40 - Psychological Disorders in Pregnancy

from Section 4 - Maternal Medicine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2021

Tahir Mahmood
Affiliation:
Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy
Charles Savona Ventura
Affiliation:
University of Malta, Malta
Ioannis Messinis
Affiliation:
University of Thessaly, Greece
Sambit Mukhopadhyay
Affiliation:
Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital, UK
Get access

Summary

Psychological disorders always have an impact not only on the individual, but also on all family members, especially partners and children. In the case of a pregnancy, the situation becomes even more complex, as the psychological problem and its treatment might in addition have an impact on the unborn child. Furthermore, psychological problems may compromise fertility and the course of pregnancy, as well as the peri- and postnatal period, and they might be aggravated due to pregnancy and the challenges of motherhood. Pregnancy implies emotional, physical and social changes for the mother, her partner and the rest of the family, but while many mothers greatly enjoy these changes and adapt well to them, others – and especially women at risk for or with pre-existing psychological disorders –may react with severe distress. Women´s socio-economic and cultural context features are modulators of the adaptive responses to the pregnancy, and unfavourable economic conditions or specific social circumstances make it harder to cope. In order to prevent negative long-term effects on the newborn, the mother and the entire family, early detection and adequate care of all pregnant women at risk for psychological maladjustment is of utmost importance and has an impact on mental health and well-being. This chapter describes psychological disorders pregnant women may suffer from, discusses diagnostic procedures as well as treatment options and explains preventive strategies.

Information

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×