Current Issues within the Perinatal Mental Health Care System in Aichi Prefecture, Japan: A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Survey

Kei Fujita, Tomomi Kotani, Yoshinori Moriyama, Takafumi Ushida, Kenji Imai, Tomoko Kobayashi-Nakano, Noriko Kato, Takeo Kano, Fumitaka Kikkawa and Hiroaki Kajiyama
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Kei Fujita: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-Cho, Showa-Ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Aichi, Japan
Tomomi Kotani: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-Cho, Showa-Ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Aichi, Japan
Yoshinori Moriyama: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-Cho, Showa-Ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Aichi, Japan
Takafumi Ushida: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-Cho, Showa-Ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Aichi, Japan
Kenji Imai: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-Cho, Showa-Ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Aichi, Japan
Tomoko Kobayashi-Nakano: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-Cho, Showa-Ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Aichi, Japan
Noriko Kato: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Japanese Red Cross Aichi Medical Center Nagoya Daini Hospital, 2-9 Myoken-Cho, Showa-Ku, Nagoya 466-8650, Aichi, Japan
Takeo Kano: Kano’s Clinic for Women, 3-16-25 Osu, Naka-Ku, Nagoya 460-0011, Aichi, Japan
Fumitaka Kikkawa: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-Cho, Showa-Ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Aichi, Japan
Hiroaki Kajiyama: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-Cho, Showa-Ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Aichi, Japan

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 17, 1-14

Abstract: Mental illnesses commonly occur in the reproductive age. This study aimed to identify the issues that exist within the perinatal mental health care system. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Aichi Prefecture in central Japan. Questionnaires on the situation between 2016 and 2018 were mailed to the head physicians of 128 maternity care units, 21 neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), and 40 assisted reproductive technology (ART) units. A total of 82 (52.6 per 100,000 births) women were admitted to mental health care units during the perinatal period, and 158 (1.0 per 1000 births) neonates born to mothers with mental illness were admitted to NICUs. Approximately 40% of patients were hospitalized in psychiatric hospitals without maternity care units. Eighty-four (71.1%) and 76 (64.4%) maternity care units did not have psychiatrists or social workers, respectively. Moreover, 20–35% of the head physicians in private clinics, general hospitals, and ART units endorsed the discontinuation of psychotropic drug use during pregnancy. However, the corresponding figures were only 5% among those in maternal-fetal centers. Resources for perinatal mental illness might be limited. Perspectives on psychotropic drug use differed based on the type of facilities where the doctors were working.

Keywords: psychotropic drugs; multidisciplinary; preconception (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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