Assessing Perinatal Psychiatric Morbidity: Implications for Maternal Mental Health Care in Italy

Traumatic births impact women's long-term health, family dynamics, and healthcare systems, underscoring the need for prevention and effective interventions. Despite Italy's universal healthcare, perinatal mental health services and guidelines, especially for childbirth-related PTSD (CB-PTSD), remain underdeveloped. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of CB-PTSD, postpartum depression (PPD), and anxiety in Italian women 6-12 weeks postpartum, and assess the impact of comorbidities on mother-child bonding.

The study was part of a broader longitudinal research that involved 175 Italian mothers 6-12 weeks postpartum, recruited from birthing centers. Participants completed measures for childbirth-related PTSD (City BiTS-IT), depression (EPDS), anxiety (PSAS-IT), and mother-child bonding (PBQ).

Prevalence rates were 1.1% for CB-PTSD, 18.6% for depression, and 30.2% for anxiety. Depression was significantly associated with anxiety (χ²(1, N = 159) = 9.131, p = .003) and CB-PTSD (χ²(1, N = 171) = 11.689, p < .001). Hierarchical regression showed that depression and general PTSD symptoms significantly impaired mother-child bonding, explaining 36.3% of the variance (R ² = 0.363).

The findings highlight the prevalence and complexity of perinatal psychiatric morbidity, emphasizing the critical need for comprehensive assessment tools tailored to the Italian context. These results contribute to a deeper understanding of maternal mental health challenges during the perinatal period.