Sandra Nakić Radoš

Catholic University of Croatia · Department of Psychology

One in four women has mental health problems during pregnancy or after childbirth, mainly peripartum depression symptoms (about 16%), anxiety, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after childbirth (about 4%) or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) ( about 4%). Also, some pregnant women have impaired physical health during pregnancy, such as gestational diabetes (14%) or hyperemesis gravidarum (2%). In the project, one cross-sectional and two longitudinal studies will be carried out, which will include over 1000 women, and we will monitor their health from pregnancy to the postpartum period through questionnaires. The purpose of this research is to gain scientific knowledge about the complex relationships between a wide range of mental and physical health variables that can have adverse effects on maternal well-being and mother-infant bonding. The obtained results would have practical implications for informing and psycho-educating the public about difficulties in the peripartum period, which can serve to set guidelines for further research and clinical practice, all with the ultimate goal of improving the well-being of parents and their children.

The INTERSECT study works in collaboration with principle investigators across the world, with an emphasis on working with under-represented countries in South-America, Asia and Africa. This research aims to study childbirth PTSD in an international context. Principle investigators in each country have the responsibility of conducting the INTERSECT survey with postpartum women in their country. The INTERSECT project will thus result in cross-cultural information on the prevalence of postpartum PTSD, as well as cross-cultural variation in the etiology and manifestation of childbirth-related PTSD worldwide. The INTERSECT study aims specifically to: 1. Determine the prevalence of birth trauma and PTSD across countries and cultures. 2. Determine differences in symptom presentation across countries and cultures. 3. Determine the etiology of childbirth-related PTSD symptoms across countries and cultures. We are still looking for researchers from unrepresented countries, especially (but not only) from Asia, Africa, and South America. Please contact the core team by using this link: https://blogs.city.ac.uk/intersect/contact-us/

Unlike other sources of trauma, perinatal or birth-related trauma is relatively unrecognised. Evidence suggests up to 30% of women describe their birth experience as traumatic and experience some symptoms of intrusion, avoidance or hyper-arousal. Meta-analyses show post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects 4% of women after birth and up to 18% of women in high risk groups. Rectification of this situation is essential. In 2016, 5.11 million babies were born in Europe, indicating that up to 1.5 million women may have had sub-optimal birth experiences and over 200,000 may have developed PTSD as a result. Developmental research has firmly established that the quality of infant-parent relationships is a critical factor in early and later childhood development, consequently, a family-centred approach to any investigation of birth-related trauma is critical, as trauma can be transmitted within the family system. Given the enormous economic burden it places on women, health systems, and particularly children, relatively small improvements in services to prevent, detect and treat this problem can benefit society significantly. The main aim of this Action is two-fold. The Action will establish an international multidisciplinary network of researchers, clinicians, NGOs and SMEs to 1) consolidate and disseminate current evidence and coordinate a joint effort to seek ways to prevent, minimise and resolve birth-related trauma, and to optimise emotional and psychological outcomes for parents and families and 2) accelerate the translation of that knowledge into best practices that can be shared across Europe to reduce the societal and economic burden arising from birth-related negative/traumatic experiences.