Royal College of Psychiatrists: Saving Mothers’ Lives: Suicides during pregnancy and in months after birth have almost halved

The latest Maternal Deaths Enquiry, Saving Mothers’ Lives 2003-2005, has found that the number of suicides during pregnancy and in the year after birth have almost halved since the last two Enquiries.

This is largely accounted for by a reduction in the number of suicides taking place within the first six months of childbirth, particularly in the first three months. The decrease is linked to a fall in the number of mothers who were seriously mentally ill, had history of mental illness, and had been under the care of psychiatric services during their pregnancy.

However, the profile of suicides within three months of childbirth (37% in the Enquiry compared with 54% in previous Enquiries) remains the same. All were seriously ill; the majority had a history of serious affective illness, such as bipolar illness, and the risk of recurrence following childbirth was neither identified nor managed by health professionals.

These mothers were not ‘proactively’ managed by psychiatric services before their last illness (and with one exception had not been admitted to a Mother and Baby Unit).

The findings have once again led to the Enquiry making recommendations on the importance of identifying and treating those at risk of, or suffering from, serious post-partum psychiatric illness.


Reference:

Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Annual Meeting, Imperial College London 1 - 4 July 2008

For further information contact Dr Margaret Oates, Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham
Tel: 0115 955 5361. E-mail: margaret.oates@nottingham.ac.uk

Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Press Office: 020 7235 2351 exts. 298 or 127.
From 1-4 July, please call the Annual Meeting Press Office on 020 7594 8636 or 020 7594 1847.