Maternal anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder after man-made disasters and disasters caused by natural hazards
Citation: Futterman ID, Grace H, Weingarten S, et al. Maternal anxiety, depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after natural disasters: a systematic review. The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine. 2023;36:1
Language: EN
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: The authors reported there was no funding for this article.
What is this? In this systematic review, the authors searched for studies on the prevalence of maternal anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after exposure to pandemics, hurricanes, earthquakes, and post-political conflict or displacement. They restricted their searches to articles published in English from January 1990 through June 2020, and found 22 studies.
What was found? The authors found increased rates of anxiety, depression, and PTSD in the ante-partum and post-partum periods among pregnant persons exposed to man-made disasters and those caused by natural hazards.
Implications: The authors of the review stated that healthcare providers should recognise the vulnerability of this group of patients and provide increased mental health support to them.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed their findings in the context of gender and race.
This summary was prepared by Eszter Szocs, checked by Grace Meng, and finalized by William Summerskill.