Enhancing reciprocal partner support to prevent perinatal depression and anxiety: a Delphi consensus study

Abstract

BackgroundSystematic reviews have established that partner support protects against perinatal mood problems. It is therefore a key target for interventions designed to prevent maternal and paternal depression and anxiety. Nonetheless, the extant literature is yet to be translated into specific actions that parents can implement. Prevention efforts aiming to facilitate reciprocal partner support within the couple dyad need to provide specific guidance on how partners can support one another to reduce their vulnerability to perinatal depression and anxiety.MethodTwo panels of experts in perinatal mental health (21 consumer advocates and 39 professionals) participated in a Delphi consensus study to establish how partners can support one another to reduce their risk of developing depression and anxiety during pregnancy and the postpartum period.ResultsA total of 214 recommendations on how partners can support each other were endorsed by at least 80 % of both panels as important or essential in reducing the risk of perinatal depression and anxiety. The recommendations were grouped under the following categories: becoming a parent, supporting each other through pregnancy and childbirth, communication, conflict, division of labor, practical support, emotional support, emotional closeness, sexual satisfaction, using alcohol and drugs, encouraging self-care, developing acceptance, and help-seeking.ConclusionThis study established consensus between consumers and professionals in order to produce a set of guidelines on how partners can support each other to prevent depression and anxiety during pregnancy and following childbirth. It is hoped that these guidelines will inform the development of perinatal depression and anxiety prevention efforts.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12888-016-0721-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Women's experience of psychological birth trauma in China: a qualitative study

“…In return, support from family members was crucial, especially from their partners. Partner support was a protective factor for the perinatal psychological health of the women, which could reduce the negative maternal evaluation of childbirth [31,32]. On the other hand, the women expressed the need for professional medical support, which was supported by a previous study [33].…”

Perspectives on supporting fathers affected by postnatal depression and a history of violence

“…Should a Home Visitor identify a father in need of support they are likely to be concerned over the limited number supportive interventions available for fathers with depression and anxiety (O'Brien et al, 2016). Whilst Pilkington et al, (2016) provide some guidelines on how partners can support each other to prevent depression and reduce anxiety during the pregnancy these guidelines take no account of the influence of IPV; a complicating factor for the Health Visitor.…”

Partner’s Emotional Reaction to Pregnancy Mediates the Relationship Between Pregnancy Planning and Prenatal Mental Health

“…Many studies have shown that during pregnancy women's mental health is associated with social support [8][9][10], marital relationships [11], as well as socioeconomic factors.…”

“…Other studies have also shown that social support, especially the partner's, is of great importance in maintaining the mental health of pregnant women [8,17,18]. Further, affecting the marital relations, the partner's emotional support has important effects on the mental health of women during pregnancy [9,10] in such a way that some studies have reported that the partner's emotional support has a positive relation to increased marital satisfaction in women [19]. However, during pregnancy, among all the partner's supportive behavior, his emotional reaction to pregnancy such as that on learning about his wife's pregnancy or about pregnancyrelated events such as movement of the fetus or the growth of the abdomen as a result of the growth of the fetus, might be of special importance because it indicates the importance of pregnancy to the partner.…”