Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
These guidelines will help inform people who are experiencing depression and their family
members, but also health professionals working with women during pregnancy and after having
the baby around the best way to identify, manage and treat ante and postnatal depression
and other disorders.
These guidelines build on the extents of work that beyondblue has undertaken. First of all,
in 2001 to 2004, we undertook a very large national study looking at the prevalence of
depression during pregnancy and postnatally. And from that we identified that up to 9%
of women will experience depression during pregnancy and then that increases to almost
16% in the postnatal period. So it affects a large number of women and their families.
We also know that if untreated and not detected, this depression can have very negative impact
on the mother and the family and the development of the child, which is why it's so important
that we have some guidelines to make sure women get timely treatment and the best treatment
that's possibly available. When we're talking about pregnancy and postnatally, there's a
large number of different health professionals who might be involved in the care of a woman.
So this panel included obstetricians and midwives, who might be involved in antenatal care, but
also maternal and child health nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists and other health professionals
right across the areas. So it includes a wide range of people and very importantly, it also
included women who had experienced depression themselves, we often call "consumers." But
also partners or family members or carers who were also involved in the personal experience
of assisting or guiding someone through a depression.
The timing of these guidelines is critical as at the moment, we have the commitment of
all governments, both Commonwealth and State and Territory governments with the investment
of an $85 million initiative to ensure that all women will be assessed during pregnancy
for depression and anxiety and other conditions, as well as in the postnatal period. So that
we can identify women who may be at risk and also ensure that we provide timely treatments
so that the depression doesn't become more serious or persist for longer.
We're hoping to get feedback from the general community, from women and their partners or
family members, but also from health professionals who may come into contact with or work with
women and families who might be experiencing these conditions, pre or post pregnancy.
There hasn't been any comprehensive set of guidelines to this extent, so it's a very
new, exciting development. And something I believe, that people are really looking forward
to having that consolidated research to really guide best practice in this area. So very
importantly, these guidelines will provide a lot of review of the literature so that
we can identify the safest treatments for women at these times.