DOI: 10.1097/01.yic.0000405913.41404.b4

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Issn Print: 0268-1315

Publication Date: 2011/09/01


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Motherhood in schizophrenia: an ignored reality

Gemma Safont; Olga Simón; Laura Gozalo; Marina Garriga; Ariadna Balagué; Pere A. Soler-Insa; Miguel Bernardo

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Excerpt

Objective: Since deinstitutionalization, birth rates in women with schizophrenia have tripled, reaching similar levels to those in the general population (50–60%). Schizophrenic mothers show higher rates of promiscuity, unmarried status, divorces, unwanted and unplanned pregnancies, abortions and obstetric complications than the general population. These facts have been underestimated and even ignored in clinical practice. There is a lack of studies that evaluate these issues in our population, and there is no data regarding the experiences and needs of mothers with schizophrenia. Therefore, this study is aimed to compare schizophrenic mothers with nulliparous women suffering from schizophrenia, in order to identify predictors of maternity, and variables relating to pregnancy, postpartum and child care in an effort to create useful evidence for clinical guidelines.
Methods: The study was designed as a transversal, naturalistic and descriptive study of a community sample of adult women with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (SAD). All patients gave written informed consent prior to participate in the study. All participant patients and relatives were interviewed when necessary. Information was acquired using a structured interview designed for this purpose with demographic data, and variables relating to maternity, pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum and child care. All statistical analyses were performed with the statistical package SPSS v. 17.
Results: 123 women, mean age 48.1 years (SD=12.4). 75.6% had a diagnosis of schizophrenia and 24.4% had a diagnosis of SAD. 56.9% of the entire sample were mothers. Mean age of onset of the illness was 28 years (SD=10). 8.2% of all patients had, at least, a voluntary interruption of pregnancy, being more frequent among women with SAD (P<0.01) On average, age of onset of psychosis was 11 years later on mothers compared to nulliparous (95% CI=8–14). 88.6% of mothers had a stable marital history while more than 70% of the nulliparous women were unmarried. While the majority of nulliparous were still living with their family of origin only 2.9% of the mothers were on the same situation. Having children was more common in paranoid schizophrenia than SAD (P=0.025). Between the mothers’ group, 75.8% of the pregnancies were unplanned, and 23.2% had obstetric complications. Over 80% took care of their children, most with family support. 19.4% had a mental illness diagnose on the off- spring.
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