Perinatal Depression During Covid-19 Pandemic: Need To Introduce Perinatal Mental Health Services Under Indian Reproductive Health Rights Framework

Abstract

Perinatal period has been reported to be a sensitive phase for the onset or relapse of mental health disorders like depression and anxiety. Covid-19 has reportedly increased the mental health disease burden globally. In such circumstances, the women affected by perinatal depression in low-resource settings like India, creates a profoundly alarming scenario. Such a situation calls for the analysis of the policies and guidelines of the Indian reproductive healthcare framework along with the global responses to perinatal healthcare needs, especially focusing on perinatal mental health. The author searched for studies focusing upon the prevalence of perinatal depression, conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic, on databases like PubMed Central, Science Direct and Web of Science. Further various national and international reports, including newspaper reports on health delivery and reproductive mental health for perinatal women during Covid-19, were analysed for this narrative review. The author highlights the need to recognise perinatal women as vulnerable and high-risk population during pandemics. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021.