The following is a summary of “A systematic review of clinical psychological guidance for perinatal mental health,” published in the October 2023 issue of Psychiatry by O’Brien et al.
Perinatal psychological and psychosocial guidelines can help healthcare workers reduce maternal distress and mortality, but similarities in recommendations across guidelines are poorly understood. Researchers started a retrospective study to identify consistent guidance for perinatal psychological and psychosocial therapeutic input.
They searched 8 literature, two guideline databases, and guideline development institutions and organizations related to maternity or perinatal mental health care. After extracting relevant guidance, the AGREE-II instrument evaluated the guideline quality. The guidelines primarily addressed psychological assessment and therapeutic intervention for perinatal mental health issues. Recommendation consistencies and inconsistencies were detailed through a narrative synthesis approach.
The results showed 92 records with 7 guidelines meeting the inclusion criteria. Only 2 achieved high ratings (> 80%) across all domains, while the rest varied from poor to excellent. Clarity of presentation (75%) and scope and purpose (70%) were the highest-rated domains across the seven guidelines. Guidelines recommend structured psychological assessment and intervention, but details vary. New perinatal mental health services consider the therapeutic needs of the mother-infant dyad and partners. Therefore, guideline recommendations for these groups were based on expert consensus.
They concluded that perinatal mental health guidelines need more vital evidence to support recommendations and improve the implementation of effective interventions.
Source: bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-023-05173-1
