Non-fatal self-harm and suicide following postpartum psychiatric emergency department visits: A population-based retrospective cohort study.

In a population-based cohort of postpartum individuals in Ontario, Canada, this study aimed to determine the risk of non-fatal self-harm and suicide within one year of an initial postpartum psychiatric emergency department (ED) visit (2008-2020), and the key associated factors. Of 16,475 postpartum individuals with psychiatric ED visits, 714 (4.3 %) had non-fatal self-harm within one year, and 23 (0.15 %) died by suicide. Risk was substantially higher for those with self-harm at the initial presentation. Further efforts to connect individuals with postpartum psychiatric ED visits with needed inpatient care and outpatient follow-up are required to reduce non-fatal self-harm and suicide risk.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest SNV reports royalties from UpToDate for authorship of materials related to antidepressants and pregnancy. LCB, KF, JZ, HKB, SEB, and PK have no interests to declare.
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