[Mental Health of Women After Childbirth: Inpatient Family Rooms as a Resource? A Pilot Study]

Social support is a key factor in mental health. Obstetric wards can promote social support by providing family rooms. Family rooms are not yet universally accessible. Studies on their influence on the maternal psyche are also lacking. The present study examines the mental health of women with and without accommodation in a family room on an obstetric ward.113 patients filled in standardized scales on anxiety, depression, psychological well-being and post-traumatic stress symptoms 1-3 days postpartum. In addition, obstetric data of birth mode, pregnancy and birth complications were collected. Recruitment during strict pandemic visiting restrictions made it possible to compare women in the family room (constant presence of the partner) and women without a family room (without any visits).In the overall sample, anxiety (22.6%) and lack of psychological well-being (33.6%) were particularly evident. The two groups did not differ in terms of mental health, but women with birth complications and an unplanned birth mode in the family room had significantly lower anxiety scores than women without a family room.Women with birth complications exhibited higher post-traumatic stress symptoms overall. Additionally, women in the family room were significantly more often primipara, they more often had an unplanned birth mode and they differed in the frequency of their birth complications.This study provides first evidence for a psychoprotective influence of family rooms on anxiety in patients with previous complications and unplanned birth modes. A discussion on promoting family rooms, especially for patients with peripartal complications, appears necessary. Further studies on the effectiveness of family rooms are required.