Commentary

Improving child outcomes through maternal mental health interventions

  • Ingrid Meintjes
  • Sally Field
  • Lisa Sanders
  • Thandi van Heyningen
  • Simone Honikman

Abstract

This commentary will provide a general overview of the public health considerations of maternal mental illness, both from a global perspective as well as from the South African context. The paper will  outline the consequences of maternal mental illness for mothers as well as their offspring, through the life stages from pregnancy until adulthood. The paper then describes the Perinatal Mental Health Project (PMHP), an intervention that addresses maternal mental health  in Cape Town, South Africa. The evidence emerging from this example contributes to the case for integrating maternal mental health into the mainstream health environment.

Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health 2010, 22(2): 73–82

Author Biographies

Ingrid Meintjes
Perinatal Mental Health Project, Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, 46 Sawkins Road, Rondebosch 7700, Cape Town
Sally Field
Perinatal Mental Health Project, Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, 46 Sawkins Road, Rondebosch 7700, Cape Town
Lisa Sanders
Perinatal Mental Health Project, Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, 46 Sawkins Road, Rondebosch 7700, Cape Town
Thandi van Heyningen
Perinatal Mental Health Project, Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, 46 Sawkins Road, Rondebosch 7700, Cape Town
Simone Honikman
Perinatal Mental Health Project, Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, 46 Sawkins Road, Rondebosch 7700, Cape Town
Section
Articles

Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 1728-0591
print ISSN: 1728-0583