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- Title
Ideación y comportamiento suicida en embarazadas.
- Authors
Lara, Ma. Asunción; Letechipía, Gabriela
- Abstract
The aim is to explore the occurrence of suicide ideation and behavior in pregnant women receiving prenatal care and to analyze the motives behind these behaviors. Although there are very few studies evaluating the prevalence of the suicide phenomenon (suicide, intentional injuries with or without the aim of taking one's own life, ideas of harming oneself or death) during the prenatal period, it has been reported that pregnancy complications due to suicide attempts occur in 0.4 out of every 1 000 patients discharged from hospitals in the state of California in the United States and in one out of every 283 pregnant women in specialized mental health services. Suicide ideation occurs in 1.4% of English expectant mothers, 0.5% of Finnish ones and 27.8% of US pregnant women with psychiatric disorders. In Latin America, it is estimated to occur in 16.7% of pregnant teenagers. Although suicide ideation and suicide attempts during pregnancy are less frequent than at other times in life, they have major consequences, increasing the risk of death and affecting fetal development and pregnancy itself. Method Participants: The interviewees comprised 120 pregnant women who came in for prenatal care at 1. a state Health Center providing primary health care and 2. three Health Homes that provide basic medical services, run by the Health Secretariat in Mexico City. Three of the 120 questionnaires were rejected due to incomplete information, which left a total of 117. Sample characteristics include: mean age, 23.2 years (DS=5); mean monthly income, $3,876 (SD = $239); schooling, 69% had completed junior high school while 31% had completed senior high school; 71% were housewives while 29% were also engaged in paid employment. Marital status: 18% married, 19% single and 63% cohabiting. Instrument: A structured questionnaire with the following areas: 1. Socio-demographic information (age, schooling, etc.). 2. Indicators of suicidal ideation and behavior: a) Have you thought a lot about death, whether your own, someone else's or death in general? b) Have you wished to die? c) Have you ever been about to take your own life? and d) Have you ever intentionally hurt, cut, poisoned or harmed yourself in order to take your own life? 3. Timing and motives. If the event occurred sometime in their life, the interviewer explored whether the event took place during the current pregnancy as well as the reasons why it happened. Procedure: In the waiting room at the Health Center, expectant mothers were told about the purpose of the study and the informed consent form. In the Health Homes, final year medical students did the same and arranged appointments for the interviews. The same researcher conducted the interviews in the two settings. Results Suicidal ideation: Thinking a lot about death at some time in their lives was reported by 29 subjects (24.8%) and during pregnancy by 44 (37.6%). The reasons for these thoughts during this last period are: separation from one's partner, death of a child, fear of childbirth, fear of accidents or sickness and interest in the subject of death. Realizing one is pregnant, feeling lonely, the death or illness of someone close and family problems are among the reasons for thoughts about death as well as the desire to die. Desire to die: This was expressed by 29 subjects (24.8%) in the past and by nine (7.7%) during pregnancy. Among the latter group, the reasons were: realizing one is pregnant, the death or illness of someone close and family problems.…
- Subjects
CALIFORNIA; UNITED States; MEXICO City (Mexico); MEXICO; LATIN America; SUICIDAL ideation; SELF-destructive behavior; PREGNANCY &; psychology; WOMEN'S mental health; PRENATAL care; SUICIDAL behavior
- Publication
Salud Mental, 2009, Vol 32, Issue 5, p381
- ISSN
0185-3325
- Publication type
Article