Mothers with mental health problems: Contrasting experiences of support within maternity services in the Republic of Ireland.
OBJECTIVE
to explore the views and experiences of women with mental health difficulties, in the Republic of Ireland, accessing and receiving care from publicly-funded maternity care services during pregnancy, childbirth and immediate postnatal period in hospital.


METHODS
in total 20 women with a range of mental health problems were recruited. The women had given birth within maternity services with and without specialist perinatal mental health services.


METHODS
a qualitative descriptive design using in-depth face to face interviews was used to explore women׳s experience. Data were analysed using an inductive thematic process.


RESULTS
the study offers valuable insights into the maternity care experiences of women with mental health problems, and highlights the deficits and fragmentation of care in maternity units that do not have a specialist mental health service. Even when the women voluntarily disclosed their difficulties, midwives appeared to lack the knowledge and skills to respond sensitively and responsively.


CONCLUSIONS
there is a need to expand perinatal mental health services in the Republic of Ireland, so that quality service provision is not dependent on geography. In addition, there is a need for education to address the lack of knowledge and understanding of perinatal mental health problems amongst maternity care practitioners.
School of Nursing and Midwifery Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland. Electronic address: ahiggins@tcd.ie.
Agnes
A
Higgins
School of Nursing and Midwifery Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland. Electronic address: TTUOHY@tcd.ie.
Teresa
T
Tuohy
School of Nursing and Midwifery Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland. Electronic address: murphr30@tcd.ie.
Rebecca
R
Murphy
School of Nursing and Midwifery Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland. Electronic address: cbegley@tcd.ie.
Cecily
C
Begley
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D066296:Grounded Theory; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland; D008427:Maternal Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D008603:Mental Health / Q000592:standards*; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010465:Perception; D011247:Pregnancy; D036301:Qualitative Research
Maternity services; Perinatal mental health; Qualitative research; Women׳s experiences