Current Problems of Psychiatry

REVIEW PAPER

Curr Probl Psychiatry 2018; 19(3):192-208
DOI:10.2478/cpp-2018-0016

© 2018 Medical University of Lublin. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonComercial-No Derivs licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/)

Małgorzata Futyma-Jędrzejewska¹ , Ewelina Drzał² , 
Hanna Karakuła-Juchnowicz³ 

¹ Prof. Mieczysław Kaczyński Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Lublin
² Voivodeship Hospital for Neurotic and Psychiatric Patients in Suchowola
³ I Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Early Intervention, Medical University of Lublin

Full Text

Abstract

Pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood are new situations for women and require adjustment. Women suffering from schizophrenia require special attention due to the course of the disease. Physiological changes that occur in the body during pregnancy may be unacceptable for women suffering from schizophrenia. They may delusively deny the existence of the pregnancy, lead an unhealthy lifestyle (stimulants, poor diet, lack of gynaecological check-ups), which in turn causes an increased risk of complications. In the research conducted so far, it has been proven that three kinds of complications are associated with schizophrenia: complications concerning pregnancy itself (bleeding, diabetes, Rh-incompatibility, pre-eclampsia), intrauterine growth restriction (low birth weight, congenital malformations, small head circumference) and complications regarding labour (uterine atony, asphyxia, emergency Caesarean section). The course of the labour itself in this specific group of patients has not yet been sufficiently examined. It has also been proven that perinatal complications are one of the factors determining an increased risk of schizophrenia.

Keywords: schizophrenia, obstetric complications, pregnancy, pre-eclampsia