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We have taken every care to ensure that drug dosages and related medical advice in this book are accurate. However, drug and disinfectant dosages can change and are updated often, so always double-check dosages and procedures against a reliable, up-to-date formulary and the given drug’s documentation before administering it.

Maternal Mental Health: A guide for health and social workers

First published in 2015 by Bettercare. Updated September 2015, May 2018 (significant changes), December 2018. This version produced on 26 February 2025.

Text © Perinatal Mental Health Project 2015

Illustrations by Graeme Arendse, adapted for low-bandwidth access by Kevin Shelley

ISBN (print edition): 978-1-920218-83-6
ISBN (international paperback edition): 978-1-717897-79-4
ISBN (reflowable edition): 978-1-920218-88-1

Excluding content explicitly credited to others, this book is published under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License. For details, see creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0.

This licence means you may share, copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format under the following terms:

  • Attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the licence, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
  • Non-Commercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
  • No Derivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.

For any other uses, please contact Bettercare.

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      1. Home
      1. How to use our books
      2. Buy printed books
      3. About Bettercare
      4. FAQs
      5. Contact us
      1. Acknowledgements
      2. Introduction
        1. About Bettercare
        2. Why decentralised learning?
        3. Free Bettercare Online Learning Platform
        4. Learning programmes
        5. Format of the courses
        6. Contributors
        7. Updating the course material
        8. Contact information
        9. Registration
      3. 1 Introduction to maternal mental health
        1. Objectives
        2. Introduction to maternal mental health
        3. Risk factors linked to poor maternal mental health
        4. Types of maternal mental illness
        5. Chapter summary
        6. Case studies
      4. 2 Identifying maternal mental illness
        1. Objectives
        2. Challenges in identifying maternal mental illness
        3. Screening for common maternal mental disorders (depression and anxiety)
        4. Chapter summary
        5. Case studies
      5. 3 Making referrals for maternal mental illness
        1. Objectives
        2. Referrals
        3. Counselling
        4. Non-attendance
        5. Doulas
        6. Chapter summary
        7. Case studies
      6. 4 How to help mothers with mental distress
        1. Objectives
        2. Why pregnancy and childbirth are stressful periods
        3. Disrespect and abuse in the maternity setting
        4. Well-being of care providers
        5. Engaging empathically with mothers
        6. Chapter summary
        7. Case studies
        8. Activities
      7. 5 Special medical issues in maternal mental health
        1. Objectives
        2. HIV and mental illness
        3. Alcohol and drug misuse
        4. The risk of suicide
        5. Postnatal psychosis
        6. Perinatal loss and mental health
        7. Chapter summary
        8. Case studies
      8. 6 Special social issues in maternal mental health
        1. Objectives
        2. Poverty and mental illness
        3. Teenage pregnancy and mental illness
        4. Unintended pregnancy and termination of pregnancy
        5. Refugees, migrants and mental illness
        6. Maternal abuse
        7. Child abuse
        8. Chapter summary
        9. Case studies
      9. 7 Infant mental health
        1. Objectives
        2. Introduction to infant mental health
        3. Negative effects of stress on infant mental health
        4. Identifying poor mental well-being in infants
        5. Infant social withdrawal
        6. Attachment problems
        7. Interventions for improving mother-infant interactions
        8. Chapter summary
        9. Case studies
      10. Resources
        1. 1 Screening tools for common mental disorders
        2. 2 Making referrals
        3. 3 Useful contact numbers for care providers in South Africa
        4. 4 Resources for pregnant women and new mothers
        5. 5 Information about termination of pregnancy
        6. 6 Information on adoption services
        7. 7 Maintenance Orders
        8. 8 Child Support Grants
        9. 9 Protection orders
        10. 10 South African national helplines
        11. 11 South African organisations for training in counselling
        12. 12 Additional information on infant mental health
      1. How to use our books
      2. Buy printed books
      3. About Bettercare
      4. FAQs
      5. Contact us

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