BGU researchers have just completed a new study of 1,000 women in Rehovot, Israel determining what would work and what would not for treating Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADs).
“These disorders affect millions of women around the world, yet only 70% of women who suffer from PMAD actually get treatment. Women are very clear about their likes and dislikes about how they want to be treated. Our new study contains excellent guidelines for a new national program here in Israel to treat mothers coping with perinatal mental health challenges,” says Prof. Julie Cwikel, founder of The Center for Women’s Health Studies and Promotion at BGU, “We are calling on the health minister to implement a national program to treat this condition which affects approximately 1 in 5 women in Israel.”
The new study was conducted by Prof. Cwikel, Prof. Orly Sarid and doctoral student Ms. Meital Simhi of the Charlotte B. and Jack J. Spitzer Department of Social Work together with representatives of the Ministry of Health, Rehovot District and Health Economist Dr. Racheli Magnezi from Bar Ilan University.
The first World Maternal Mental Health Day is today, Wednesday May 4. In many countries including Israel, approximately 15% of new mothers experience some type of perinatal mood and anxiety disorder (PMAD) which can reach as high as 30% in some populations here in Israel. These illnesses frequently go unnoticed and untreated, often with tragic and long-term consequences to both mother and child. Women of every culture, age, income level and race can develop perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Symptoms can appear any time during pregnancy and during the first 12 months after childbirth. There are effective and well-researched treatment options available to help women recover. One effective option is a combination of psychotherapy and medication. Yet many believe that taking anti-depressive medications requires that they stop breastfeeding. However, in today's medical practice there are now well accepted medications that do not harm the nursing infant.
“In Israel, our basic resources to help treat these disorders have eroded. Well baby (Tipat Halav) nurses used to make a home visit to every new mother, which was a very important psychological screening and assessment tool, but they no longer do so.
“In one to two (1.7) out of 1,000 births, a mother will develop post-partum psychosis which requires hospitalization. Israel no longer has wards where mother and infant can be hospitalized together. Separating the two for weeks or months on end has traumatic effects on both mother and child. There were 170,000 births in Israel in 2013, which means there were at least 170 mothers that year, and every year, who developed post-partum psychoses – many of whom remain untreated or suffered long separations from their infants because of a lack of a national program,” contends Prof. Cwikel.
The research is very clear – treating depressed mothers benefits both the mothers and their children in the short and long-term, according to Prof. Cwikel.
“Treating depression in pregnant and post-partum women has immediate as well as long-lasting effects, “says Prof. Cwikel, “A study done in the UK showed that if a mother is depressed when she has her baby, then when that infant hits teenage years, he or she is four times more likely to suffer from depression. A new study just published by Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston in May 2016 shows that if you treat depressed women when they’re pregnant, you reduce premature and low weight births. Another study in the US showed that for every dollar you invest in treating PMADs, you save 5.7 dollars in the future. You eliminate the need for remedial educational programs, and ongoing mental healthcare for the mother and her other children.”
The epidemiology of these disorders is very clear and proven treatment programs already exist, “in fact there is mandatory screening for perinatal and post-natal women for these disorders, yet there is still no national program in place to provide treatment,” says Prof. Cwikel. She submitted a proposal to the Health Ministry last year on how to construct such a program, which she is now calling on the ministry to implement.
On May 19th, the Center will screen the prize-winning, animated feature film "Rocks in my Pocket" followed by a panel discussion.
