Almost 200 women had postnatal depression across specialist teams
Nearly 200 women were diagnosed with postnatal depression across specialist teams in Ireland last year. Health officials emphasize that these figures represent only a portion of cases, as many women receive support through primary care and general practitioners.
Why it matters
The data sheds light on the prevalence of perinatal mental health issues and the capacity of specialized healthcare services.
Almost 200 women across Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Services (SPMHS) were diagnosed with postnatal depression last year.
Documents seen by BreakingNews.ie show 195 women across the SPMHS had postnatal depression.
This is out of 1063 women who were seen for the first time in the postnatal period by the SPMHS.
The findings from international research indicate a prevalence rate for postnatal depression of 17 per cent.
Depression is one of the commonest mental health problems in the perinatal period and varies in severity from mild to severe.
Depression in the postnatal period may be new onset occurring for the first time, have an onset in the antenatal period continuing into the postnatal period or be a recurrence of depression in a mother with a history of an affective disorder.
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