Researchers Study Causes Of Postpartum Suicide
Pregnant mothers with a history of depression or other mental illnesses may be more likely to display symptoms of postpartum suicide, according to a new study.
Researchers noted that among nearly 1,800 women who recently gave birth, those with a history of a psychiatric disorder were 27 times more likely to attempt suicide in the year after having their baby.
Women with a history of substance abuse were found to be six times as likely to attempt suicide.
The new findings in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology show that although rare, postpartum suicide may affect a certain group of women more than others.
Lead researcher Dr. Katherine A. Comtois, of the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, said that women and their families need to be aware of these increased risks caused by past psychiatric disorders and substance abuse.
The findings are based on hospital records from women who gave birth in Washington State between 1992 and 2001. The researchers identified 355 women who were hospitalized for a suicide attempt in the year after giving birth; they matched each of these women with another four who had given birth in the same year but did not attempt suicide.
The risk of postpartum suicide was markedly higher among women who’d been hospitalized with a psychiatric disorder, substance abuse problem or both 5 years before giving birth, researchers said.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recently recommended that women be screened for depression and other "psychosocial risk factors" during prenatal care, Comtois and her colleagues note in the report.
"Future studies," they write, "should evaluate the effectiveness of screening for psychiatric and substance use disorders on decreasing adverse outcomes such as suicide attempts during the postpartum period."
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