CNA347 Practice Enhancement Streams 2
Question:
Provide an education tool for a specific issue within a specific specialty area with a clearly identified target audience.
Answer:
Introduction
A perinatal depression refers to the depression faced by the woman during their pregnancy or within a year after the birth of the child. Prenatal depression is one of the most serious area of concern in Australia.
This depression can affect the physical wellbeing of the person also.The prevalence rate of this problem has increased in a high rate and this perinatal depression even crosses the prevalence rate of baby blues that is usual symptoms among the mother after the birth of the baby due to drastic changes in the hormone level of the woman.During this time, the emotional health of the person is in very vulnerable condition (Chen et al. 2018).
It is observed that, perinatal depression can affect the new born child through the poor cognitive, physical development, poor immune system and malnutrition (Chen et al. 2018).
Symptoms
- Abrupt mode swing
- Nervousness
- Sleeping problem
- Isolation from personal life
- Irritation
- Frequent crying.
- Feeling guilty
- Hallucination
Perinatal Depression
In USA, the perinatal depression is observed among 10-20% of woman. In Asia, 65% or more mothers have the problem of perinatal depression. The male, who have partners with perinatal depression, have more chances to have depression (Goyal et al. 2018)
Prevalence of the Disease
It is observed that almost 10-20% of women are experiencing the depression either in the first 12 months of post-partum or during the pregnancy period.In world, almost 121 million people is suffering from the depression and it is associated with the severe consequences of those persons. Due to severe mental depression, the patient may face extreme consequences like death due to commencement of suicide. It is observed that there are 850,000 deaths per year due to the severe depression. Moreover, The prevalence rate is much higher in the developmental countries of the world (Sockol 2015).
Causes of Perinatal depression
Although there is no exact cause of perinatal depression. Moreover, there are a few factors that can contribute to the onset of perinatal depression.The contributive factors are- sleep deficiency, vitamin D deficiency, inadequate social support, and experience of trauma during or after birth of the child, previous history of depression (Nicholson et al. 2016).
Australia and Perinatal Depression
- In Australia, 1 out of 5 mothers of children (aged 2years or less) are affected with the disease.
- Overall 111,000 was diagnosed with depression and among them 56000 patients are suffering from the perinatal depression (Chambers et al.2018).
Most vulnerable group
The disease is reported to be more common among the mothers who belong to the following group-
- Under the age of 25
- Having the Problem of obesity.
- Regular smoker
- Belongs to a low income family
- Lives in a remote areas.
Treatment
Some of the treatment for the perinatal depression can be medication management, counselling, referrals to psychologists, social workers and other support groups. Antidepressants are suitable for the disease in Australia. However, medical practitioners are nowadays are focusing on the non-pharmacological therapies such as talk therapies (Sockol 2015).
Self- Prevention Strategies
- Experience sharing with others.
- Talk to your trusted family members
- Seek company when feeling bad
- Seek help from support group.
- Limit alcohol consumption and quit smoking
- Directly ask for emotional support (Dennis 2016)
Government Initiatives
Australian Government has initiated a program named ‘National Perinatal Depression Initiative’ to provide support to the patients. Under this initiative, Government will create awareness program among the community, provide training to the health care professionals. In addition, government will provide special treatment and care to the patients and to the women who are at the risk zone. Special depression screening program will be conducted for the pregnant woman. It is suggested that, if anyone is feeling low mode, she should contact the Child and Family Health Nurse, GP or another health professionals (Chambers et al. 2018).
References:
Chambers, G.M., Randall, S., Mihalopoulos, C., Reilly, N., Sullivan, E.A., Highet, N., Morgan, V.A., Croft, M.L., Chatterton, M.L. and Austin, M.P., 2018. Mental health consultations in the perinatal period: a cost-analysis of Medicare services provided to women during a period of intense mental health reform in Australia. Australian Health Review, 42(5), pp.514-521.
Chen, J., Cross, W., Plummer, V., Lam, L. and Sun, M., 2018. The prevalence and risk factors of postpartum depression among Chinese immigrant women in Australia.
Dennis, C.L., 2016. ‘Time for self’appears to be a proactive strategy for the prevention of postpartum depression. Evidence-based nursing, pp.ebnurs-2016.
Goyal, D., Gay, C., Torres, R. and Lee, K., 2018. Shortening day length: a potential risk factor for perinatal depression. Journal of behavioral medicine, 41(5), pp.690-702.
Nicholson, L., Lecour, S., Sliwa, K., Wedegärtner, S., Kindermann, I. and Böhm, M., 2016. Assessing perinatal depression as an indicator of risk for pregnancy-associated cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular journal of Africa, 27(27), p.119.
Sockol, L.E., 2015. A systematic review of the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy for treating and preventing perinatal depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 177, pp.7-21.
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