Dr Promise Sefogah with the World Health Organisation (WHO-Ghana) says hormonal imbalances that take place in pregnant women trigger a change in behaviour, medically known as maternal mental health (MMH) disorder, and that is not madness.
Those hormones last until after delivery, and the sudden change in the levels of the hormones was what triggered the change in the behaviour of some women, he said.
“So it is not the matter that the woman has delivered and she has gone mad. No, MMH disorders are not madness. They are problems resulting from the hormonal changes that take place during pregnancy and then transition to the period of delivery,” he noted.
“All we need to do is to understand. So, let’s all join in creating public awareness that these things do happen,” Dr Sefogah, the Lead Consultant for Maternal Mental Health (MMH) Situation Analysis for the WHO, said on Monday.
In an interview with journalists in Bolgatanga after he presented findings and recommendations at a dissemination meeting on MMH Situation Analysis in Ghana, for the Northern Zone, Dr Sefogah said physiological medical reasons accounted for those happenings and called for public awareness to avoid stigmatisation.
The programme was organised by the Ghana Health Service with funding from the UK – Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (UK-FCDO).
Dr Sefogah, who is a Consultant Obstetrician Gynaecologist, said: “Everybody has a role to play, the church, the mosques, traditional leaders, the media; so that we all create the awareness that will prevent these things from having the major tone they have.”
He said some people ascribed spiritual causes to the changes and took women with such experiences to traditional healers and faith-based places, insisting that “we need to bring them to the hospital, where they would be assessed.”
The Lead Consultant called on healthcare professionals to improve the counselling of patients and their families to enhance their understanding of the changes that occurred during pregnancy.
Research indicated that 20 per cent of deaths of women after delivery was due to suicide, and that could be as a result of severe depression, “so this work has brought up very interesting findings that require urgent action,” he said.
The analysis indicates that some pregnant women panicked when they were told they would undergo Cesarean Section and called on healthcare providers to improve on counselling.
Dr Martin Boamah, the Technical Officer for Maternal and Child Health WHO-Ghana, said there was no policy on MMH in Ghana, which was worrying.
He called on critical stakeholders to put in policies that would address MMH issues comprehensively.
Over the years policy makers had concentrated on maternal deaths to the neglect of MMH issues, noting that “we should not neglect MMH because some women who suffer from these issues may not die, but then, it affects their productivity, quality of life, and has even direct effect on their children.”
Dr Boamah said there was evidence to show that children of women who suffered from maternal mental health issues had stunted growth and those with suicidal tendencies either killed themselves or their babies.
“We believe that it is the right time, and indeed, globally, the direction is towards addressing mental health issues, and of course, MMH should not be left behind. So this is what WHO, with the support of the FCDO, wants to address,” he said.
Source: GNA
