Resource Tag: PREGNANCY

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This study explored influential life experiences & environmental contexts associated with pregnancy among “out-of-home” pregnant adolescent women in Seattle (i.e., not living in stable settings or with parents). The authors found that participants organized their narratives primarily around relationships: conflict-laden family relationships, violence & sexual abuse in childhood, mental health & substance abuse problems (including […]

This article focuses on the relationship between lack of social & environmental resources & the risk factors for health problems (including depression & suicidality) in pregnant teens & adolescent mothers. Based on their findings, the authors provide recommendations for nursing assessment & intervention. (48 refs)

This article describes the nature of postpartum psychosis (PP), a group of disorders belonging to the bipolar spectrum that share the common features of the presence of psychosis & onset of symptoms during the postpartum period. The author discusses the prognosis of the illness, with special focus on its increased risk of suicide & infanticide. […]

This article discusses reactions that patients may have when their psychiatrist is pregnant. Emotional reactions of anxiety, anger & abandonment are described. 3 clinical cases are presented. In all cases the subjects responded to the pregnancy with suicidal thoughts, self-harming behaviors or suicide attempts. The authors urge psychiatrists to consider these possible reactions when treating […]

The present study compared pregnant drug-dependent women reporting homelessness or being domiciled at treatment enrollment on initial psychosocial functioning & subsequent drug treatment outcome. Homeless women had greater rates of psychiatric problems including suicidality & higher rates of physical, emotional & sexual abuse than their domiciled counterparts. Further findings & implications are discussed. (18 refs)

The number of criminal abortion deaths in Minnesota was investigated. Since the most frequent psychiatric indication for therapeutic abortion is the fear of the patient committing suicide, the problem of suicide in pregnancy is included in the report. The material studied is from the Minnesota Maternal Mortality Study for the 15-year period 1950-1964.

The authors review current data on types of stressors acting on women physicians, the consequences of these stressors & methods of coping with them. In edition to the pressures acting on all physicians, the authors examine specific stressors faced by women related to discrimination, lack of role models & support, role strain, & overload. The […]

The present study compared psychiatric & psychosocial functioning in 123 pregnant opiate- &/or cocaine-dependent women with & without a comorbid diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Participants with PTSD reported greater need for psychiatric treatment, were more likely to report a previous suicide attmept, & had more previous drug treatments than participants without PTSD. The […]

This article describes 22 studies from 4 countries that used the Perinatal Grief Scale with a total of 2485 participants. Evidence for the reliability & validity of the scale is also reviewed. The standard errors of the means for the total scale & for the subscales reveal fairly consistent scores. Significantly higher scores were found […]

This paper describes an inpatient unit recently opened in Geneva, specializing in the treatment of patients aged 16-21 years who attempted suicide, or felt the desire to complete suicide. Pregnancy is only seen as causing a suicide attempt in 40% to 60% of these cases. The risk factors appear to be first pregnancy, the first […]

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In this article the authors set out to determine the risk of suicide in pregnant women. Autopsy reports of all female residents of New York City who committed suicide between 1990-93 were assessed for pregnancy. They found the number of suicides of pregnant women were only one-third of the expected.

This report is based on medical literature & public health data in the U.S. (mostly 1988-89) & focuses on injury problem characteristics rather than gender differences in injury rates. Injuries are the leading cause of death for females 1 to 34 years old, & a major source of preventable morbidity & mortality in middle-ageed & […]

All maternal deaths in Sweden during 1980-1988 were analyzed. There were 64 pregnancy-related deaths including 3 suicides. Another 28 suicides occurred 43-365 days after delivery. Violent methods of suicide were used; only 4 cases involved intoxication. It is argued that there is a relationship between delivery & suicide during the following year as a complication […]

Children are introduced to television at an age when they do not have the ability to deal appropriately with the content of some shows, & viewing can have a significant impact on them. This article examines viewing time, cognitive development, fantasy, the influence of commercials, alcohol consumption, sexuality, violence, prosocial behavior, teenage suicide, post-traumatic stress […]

This Letter to the Editor reports results of a 10-year retrospective study of 160 women in Israel treated surgically with salpingectomy for ectopic pregnancy (EP). 6 Women, all primigravidas, had attempted suicide within the first year after surgery; none had a history of psychiatric disorder; observed factors are discussed. The rates of suicide in this […]

The most important results of systematic studies in self-poisoning individuals over the last 20 years are summarized. Trichlorfon & diazepam caused a higher rate of aneuploidy in peripheral lymphocytes. The frequency of chromatid aberrations was lower in self-poisoned pregnant women than in self-poisoned non-pregnant women, suggesting a possible protective effect of pregnancy. Intrauterine growth retardation […]

989,949 Norwegian women were followed up for 15 years in a prospective study. There were 1190 suicides in this group. Women who had never married had higher relative risks for suicide. Among the married, child-rearing women had relative lower risks. For both premenopausal & postmenopausal women, a strong linear decrease in risk with increasing number […]