Background Although much is known about the risk factors for postpartum depression (PPD), the role of giving birth to a preterm or low-birth-weight infant has not been reviewed systematically.Objective To review systematically the prevalence and risk factors for PPD among women with preterm infants.Search strategy Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Library were searched from their start dates to August 2008 using keywords relevant to depression and prematurity.Selection criteria Peer-reviewed articles were eligible for inclusion if a standardised assessment of depression was administered between delivery and 52 weeks postpartum to mothers of preterm infants.Data collection and analysis Data on either the prevalence of PPD or mean depression score in the target population and available comparison groups were extracted from the 26 articles included in the review. Risk factors for PPD were also extracted where reported. Main resultsThe rates of PPD were as high as 40% in the early postpartum period among women with premature infants. Sustained depression was associated with earlier gestational age, lower birth weight, ongoing infant illness/disability and perceived lack of social support. The main limitation was that most studies failed to consider depression in pregnancy as a confounding variable.Author's conclusions Mothers of preterm infants are at higher risk of depression than mothers of term infants in the immediate postpartum period, with continued risk throughout the first postpartum year for mothers of very-low-birth-weight infants. Targeted clinical interventions to identify and prevent PPD in this vulnerable obstetric population are warranted.

Many effective transitional intervention components are feasible and likely to be cost-effective. Future research can provide direction about the specific components necessary and/or sufficient for preventing early psychiatric readmission.

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BackgroundMental health and/or substance use issues are associated with significant disparities in morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to identify the mechanisms underlying poor primary care access for this population.MethodThis was a community-based participatory action qualitative study, in which 85 adults who self-identified as having a serious mental health and/or substance use issue and 17 service providers from various disciplines who worked with this population participated in a semi-structured interview.ResultsClient, service provider and health system barriers to access were identified. Client factors, including socioeconomic and psychological barriers, make it difficult for clients to access primary care, keep appointments, and/or prioritize their own health care. Provider factors, including knowledge and personal values related to mental health and substance use, determine the extent to which clients report their specific needs are met in the primary care setting. Health system factors, such as models of primary care delivery, determine the context within which both client and service provider factors operate.ConclusionsThis study helps elucidate the mechanisms behind poor primary health care access among people with substance use and/or mental health issues. The results suggest that interdisciplinary, collaborative models of primary healthcare may improve accessibility and quality of care for this population, and that more education about mental health and substance use issues may be needed to support service providers in providing adequate care for their clients.

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Objective To evaluate maternal medical and perinatal outcomes associated with antipsychotic drug use in pregnancy. Design High dimensional propensity score (HDPS) matched cohort study. Setting Multiple linked population health administrative databases in the entire province of Ontario, Canada. Participants Among women who delivered a singleton infant between 2003 and 2012, and who were eligible for provincially funded drug coverage, those with ≥2 consecutive prescriptions for an antipsychotic medication during pregnancy, at least one of which was filled in the first or second trimester, were selected. Of these antipsychotic drug users, 1021 were matched 1:1 with 1021 non-users by means of a HDPS algorithm. Main outcome measures The main maternal medical outcomes were gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and venous thromboembolism. The main perinatal outcomes were preterm birth (<37 weeks), and a birth weight <3rd or >97th centile. Conditional Poisson regression analysis was used to generate rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals, adjusting for additionally prescribed non-antipsychotic psychotropic medications. Results Compared with non-users, women prescribed an antipsychotic medication in pregnancy did not seem to be at higher risk of gestational diabetes (rate ratio 1.10 (95% CI 0.77 to 1.57)), hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (1.12 (0.70 to 1.78)), or venous thromboembolism (0.95 (0.40 to 2.27)). The preterm birth rate, though high among antipsychotic users (14.5%) and matched non-users (14.3%), was not relatively different (rate ratio 0.99 (0.78 to 1.26)). Neither birth weight <3rd centile or >97th centile was associated with antipsychotic drug use in pregnancy (rate ratios 1.21 (0.81 to 1.82) and 1.26 (0.69 to 2.29) respectively). Conclusions Antipsychotic drug use in pregnancy had minimal evident impact on important maternal medical and short term perinatal outcomes. However, the rate of adverse outcomes is high enough to warrant careful assessment of maternal and fetal wellbeing among women prescribed an antipsychotic drug in pregnancy.

In children born to mothers receiving public drug coverage in Ontario, Canada, in utero serotonergic antidepressant exposure compared with no exposure was not associated with autism spectrum disorder in the child. Although a causal relationship cannot be ruled out, the previously observed association may be explained by other factors.