Psychopathological symptoms, strategies for problems' resolution and newborn's health during the perinatal period

Background: The perinatal period is a factor of vulnerability for women and men. Mechanisms of problems resolution are important for a healthy living during perinatality and for the health of baby. Goals: To understand the relationship between psychopathological symptoms (PPS) and problems’ resolution (PR) during pregnancy and postpartum, in women and men; to compare PPS and PR between pregnancy and postpartum in women and men; to analyze the differences in SPP on the one hand and on the other hand, according on the baby s health at birth. Methods: Longitudinal and prospective study. Sample of 134 women and men. Assessment in pregnancy, delivery and post-partum. Instruments: Socio-demographic and Clinical Questionnaire; BSI (Derogatis, 1993); IRP (Vaz-Serra, 1988). Results: Between PPS and PR the significant correlations are negative. Positive and significant correlations were found for PPS and PR between pre and postnatal periods in women and men. Exceptions were passive abandonment (PA-PR) in women and confronting and active resolution of problems (CARP-PR) in men. For women, during postnatal period, significant increases were found in: obsessions-compulsions, interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, paranoid ideation, psychoticism, symptoms general index, index of positive symptoms (IPS) and internal/external control of problems (IECP-PR). In the same period, men presented increases in IECP and ISP. The baby s health at birth was no different according to PPS and RP women and men in pregnancy, although the prenatal depression of men having babies with problems were higher, with marginal significance. Women having babies with health problems at birth presented averages significantly lower in solicitude for help (SFH-PR) at postpartum. The fathers showed a similar result, with marginal significance. Conclusions: During perinatal period, women present different and more complex pathways than men. A worsening of the psychological state is observed during the transition from pre to postnatal period because they have post-natal psychopathological higher symptoms in number and intensity. Women having babies with health problems at birth present difficulty in solicitude for help at postnatal period. In men a high consistency is observed between pre and postnatal data of psychological variables. Therefore, it is necessary to provide psychological support to women in this stage of life.