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BackgroundMummatters is a web-based health tool that allows women to self-assess the symptoms of depression and the presence of psychosocial risk factors throughout pregnancy and the postnatal period. It aims to increase women’s awareness of their own symptoms or risk factors and their knowledge of the available support options, to encourage engagement with these support options (as appropriate), and to facilitate communication about emotional health issues between women and their health care providers. ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to report the uptake of mummatters; the sociodemographic and psychosocial risk profiles of a subsample of users; and the acceptability, credibility, perceived effect, and motivational appeal of the tool. The help-seeking behaviors of the subsample of users and barriers to help seeking were also examined. MethodsMummatters was launched in November 2016. Women who completed the mummatters baseline assessment were invited to complete a web-based follow-up survey 1 month later. ResultsA total of 2817 women downloaded and used mummatters between November 13, 2016, and May 22, 2018, and 140 women participated in the follow-up study. Approximately half of these women (51%; 72/140) were Whooley positive (possible depression), and 43% (60/140) had an elevated psychosocial risk score on the Antenatal Risk Questionnaire. Mummatters was rated favorably by pregnant and postnatal women in terms of its acceptability (94%-99%), credibility (93%-97%), appeal (78%-91%), and potential to affect a range of health behaviors specific to supporting emotional wellness during the perinatal period (78%-93%). Whooley-positive women were more likely to speak with their families than with a health care provider about their emotional health. Normalizing symptoms and stigma were key barriers to seeking help. ConclusionsAlthough mummatters was rated positively by consumers, only 53% (19/36) to 61% (22/36) of women with possible depression reported speaking to their health care providers about their emotional health. There was a trend for more prominent barriers to seeking help among postnatal women than among pregnant women. Future studies that investigate whether social barriers to seeking help are greater once a woman has an infant are warranted. Such barriers potentially place these women at greater risk of remaining untreated, as the demands on them are greater.

BackgroundAt prevalence rates of up to 40%, rates of depression and anxiety among women with medically complex pregnancies are 3 times greater than those in community-based samples of pregnant women. However, mental health care is not a component of routine hospital-based antenatal care for medically high-risk pregnant women. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of the hospital-based implementation of a Web-based integrated mental health intervention comprising psychosocial assessment, referral, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for antenatal inpatients. MethodsThis study is a quasi-experimental design. Pregnant women are eligible to participate if they are (1) 72 hours, (3) able to speak and read English or be willing to use a translation service to assist with completion of the questionnaires and intervention, (4) able to complete follow-up email questionnaires, (5) >16 years of age, and (6) not actively suicidal. Women admitted to the unit for induction (eg,

: Objective: To report rates of Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) mental health item use among a sample of women who gave birth in NSW (2009?2015) and examine if the SAFE START policy increased use of these items among perinatal women. Methods: Data was drawn from women participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health 1973?1978 cohort, linked to data from the NSW Perinatal Data Collection and MBS. Results: Use of Medicare?subsidised mental health items increased 2.7?fold among perinatal women (n=1,453) between 2009 and 2015 (4.1% versus 11.0% respectively), compared to a 1.3?fold increase among non?perinatal women (n=1,800, 6.3% versus 8.4% respectively). However, the increased use of MBS mental health items among perinatal women was not observed to be impacted by the SAFE START policy, after accounting for time trends. Conclusion: There was a substantial increase in the use of MBS mental health items among women in NSW between 2009 and 2015, with a more pronounced increase among women who had given birth compared to those who had not. Implications for public health: This study provides important information about changes in mental health service use during a time of significant investment in perinatal mental health, and demonstrates the value of longitudinal survey data linked with administrative health data to evaluate the impact of health policy., Mental health disorders are a leading cause of disease burden for women in Australia.[sup.1] In a recent national survey, between 11% and 16% of Australian women aged between 25 and [...]

Prenatal stress alters fetal programming, potentially predisposing the ensuing offspring to long-term adverse health outcomes. To gain insight into environmental influences on fetal development, this QF2011 study evaluated the urinary metabolomes of 4-year-old children (n = 89) who were exposed to the 2011 Queensland flood in utero. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to analyze urinary metabolic fingerprints based on maternal levels of objective hardship and subjective distress resulting from the natural disaster. In both males and females, differences were observed between high and low levels of maternal objective hardship and maternal subjective distress groups. Greater prenatal stress exposure was associated with alterations in metabolites associated with protein synthesis, energy metabolism, and carbohydrate metabolism. These alterations suggest profound changes in oxidative and antioxidative pathways that may indicate a higher risk for chronic non-communicable diseases such obesity, insulin resistance, and diabetes, as well as mental illnesses, including depression and schizophrenia. Thus, prenatal stress-associated metabolic biomarkers may provide early predictors of lifetime health trajectories, and potentially serve as prognostic markers for therapeutic strategies in mitigating adverse health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]