Maternal Mental Health Takes Stage At Journal Club

With support from Seed Global Health, our students and faculty took part in an engaging Journal Club session focusing on maternal mental health.

The presentation was delivered by Blessings Chikasema, Lecturer in the Department of Clinical Medicine, who conducted a critical appraisal of a study by Bitew et al. (2019), titled 𝐴𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑎: 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛-𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑦.

The researchers used a prospective population-based study design involving 1,311 pregnant women, with a 95% follow-up rate. The study used the PHQ-9 to assess depressive symptoms. Nearly two in five pregnant women who experienced depressive symptoms during pregnancy continued to experience them after childbirth, while 15.4% of women who had not experienced depressive symptoms during pregnancy developed symptoms postnatally. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) was also associated with depressive symptoms during pregnancy and after childbirth.

The critical appraisal highlighted several strengths of the study, while also noting important limitations. Although the PHQ-9 is useful for screening depressive symptoms, it does not establish a clinical diagnosis. The study design also limits the ability to draw causal conclusions. Furthermore, as the study was conducted in one rural area of Ethiopia, the findings may have limited generalisability to other low- and middle-income countries, including Malawi.

The discussion highlighted the importance of comprehensive maternal mental health care, including consideration of the social circumstances that may contribute to maternal psychological distress alongside routine maternal healthcare. It also highlighted the need for further local research to better understand maternal mental health in the Malawian context.

Through regular Journal Club sessions, Saint John of God University continues to create opportunities for students and faculty to engage with current research, exchange knowledge, develop critical thinking, and strengthen evidence-based practice in healthcare.