By IANS,
Sydney : Nearly twice as many women commit suicide during pregnancy or the time around childbirth than previously thought, according to University of New South Wales researchers.
The results highlighted the significance of perinatal (period shortly before and after birth) mental health, with suicide being the leading cause of indirect death, followed by cardiac disorders. Deaths from accidents and violence are also significant.
Researchers identified 173 maternal deaths in New South Wales over eight years between 1994 and 2001. These figures were much higher than those previously reported because the researchers took cognisance of late maternal deaths between six weeks and a year after the pregnancy ended. Routine reporting take into account only deaths that occur within 42 days of the pregnancy ending.
Late maternal deaths due to suicide and homicide were also found to be significantly underreported because they occur after the woman has left the hospital setting, wrote the study’s co-author, Elizabeth Sullivan from the National Perinatal Statistics Unit at UNSW.
Sullivan and her colleagues said their research supports the argument for the development of a perinatal mental health national action plan.
These findings appeared in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.