Psychosocial Antenatal Care: A Midwifery Context

Abstract

The rationale of any national screening programme is to recognise the benefits for public health, to assess a predominantly healthy population including pregnant women and to detect risk factors for morbidity in order to provide timely care interventions. The focus of antenatal care screening is to identify wider determinants of health that may have an impact on a pregnant woman's well-being that includes the physical, psychological, social and religious factors. Psychosocial risks, among others, include poor socioeconomic conditions such as poverty, lack of social support, general health inequalities, domestic violence and a history of either personal or familial mental illness, all of which have the capacity to influence a pregnant woman's decision to utilise health care services. This chapter highlights the antenatal care process, the importance of psychosocial care during pregnancy, maternal risks during pregnancy, the impact of pregnancy on maternal well-being, the possible psychosocial risk factors during pregnancy, psychosocial assessment, psychosocial care as a missing piece of the antenatal care puzzle, the presentation of the results of a study on psychosocial risk assessment and support and further outlining various antenatal care approaches that could be adopted to offer pregnant women holistic care.

Born in Brussels screening tool: the development of a screening tool measuring antenatal psychosocial vulnerability

“…However, it is acknowledged from the literature and care practices that other aspects need to be considered ensuing the development of a screening tool. One is that screening cannot be done without an associated care offer [ 39 ]. Therefore, it is believed that an associated integrated and personalised care path, gathering Brussels’ antenatal care and (social) care organisations is the next step needed.…”

“…Therefore, it is believed that an associated integrated and personalised care path, gathering Brussels’ antenatal care and (social) care organisations is the next step needed. Moreover, an accompanying training for caregivers on how to screen for sensitive topics and avoid stigmatisation issues is also an aspect to promote [ 2 , 22 , 39 ]. Lastly, other studies [ 10 , 40 ] highlight the importance to investigate the implementation process, the effectiveness of a screening tool, its psychometrics (i.e.…”

Supportive Care—A Missing Piece in the Current Global Efforts of Promoting Respectful Maternity Care

“…Women suffering from psychological distress during labour are uniquely vulnerable to environmental influences such as unfamiliar personnel, medicalised procedures and other conditions [ 4 ]. In addition, women may face many socio-economic and health-related vulnerabilities, including, poor economic conditions, lack of social support, domestic violence, a history of either personal or familial mental illness and functional disability, all of which can influence a women’s childbirth experiences and outcomes [ 5 ]. While these vulnerabilities cannot be eliminated during intrapartum care, their effect can be alleviated through effective supportive care, leading to improved birthing outcomes.…”

Feasibility of training primary healthcare workers to identify antenatal depression

“…757”, 2018 ). However, the low number of trained mental health professionals (Garg et al, 2019 ) and lack of time and training of non-mental health professionals (Legere et al, 2017 ; Mathibe-Neke and Suzan Masitenyane, 2018 ) in an already burdened health system often results in low rates of identification of perinatal depression in resource-poor settings.…”