Perinatal mental health counselling programme: A scoping review

To map the evidence on a Perinatal Mental Health Counselling Programme, identifying its characteristics, participants, and outcomes.

This review followed the guidelines of the Joanna Briggs Institute and PRISMA-ScR. Published and unpublished studies, from 2011 to 2021, written in English, Portuguese or Spanish were included.

Despite the high number of articles identified, only nine articles were included in the final analysis, mainly from Iran, Italy and one Portuguese study. All articles referred to community health care centres and hospitals. The sessions varied between 6 and 16 and lasted 30-90 min. The method used was either individual and/or group, with weekly or monthly sessions or whenever deemed necessary throughout the evaluation. Different techniques were found, but emotional management, problem-solving, relaxation and mindfulness techniques were highlighted. Participants are pregnant women, partners, or family members. All articles suggest a decrease in the levels of stress, anxiety, and depression after the counselling intervention.

Perinatal counselling programme have varied characteristics and mental health nurses are potential facilitators.