Prenatal Depression and Anxiety: a Literature Review

Introduction. Women with prenatal depression and anxiety may suffer issues in their social performance, emotional withdrawal and excessive worrying about their future ability to be mothers. Objective. To identify and describe the findings that literatura reports on risk factors for developing prenatal depression and anxiety, the consequences for the mother and child, theoretical explanations that cover origin and treatment, and health care strategies. Methodology. We performed a literature review on articles published between 1995 and 2015 on the PubMed, EBSCO Host, Scielo, Redalyc and Google Scholar databases and sources of information. The terms, "depression during pregnancy," "antenatal anxiety," "perinatal mental health," and "prenatal anxiety," among others, were used. Moreover, we selected articles that reported risks and impacts on the mother and child's health, theoretical explanations on its origin and treatments for depression and anxiety. Results. The main identified risk factor is a previous history of anxiety and/or depression at some point in life. A restriction to prenatal development, a low birth weight and premature labor all stand out as some of the negative effects on the baby's health. Going forward, emotional and behavioral issues in the child stand out. Action strategies consist of designing clinical care guides and protocols that allow identifying women who are at risk and women who already present a moderate or severe symptomatology. Conclusions. The above results bring to light the need to implement action strategies that allow identifying populations at risk early. Cómo citar. Mojica-Perilla M, Redondo-Rodríguez S, Osma-Zambrano SE. Depresión y ansiedad prenatal: una revisión de la literatura. MedUNAB. 2019;22(2):200-212. doi: 10.29375/01237047.2820