Exploring maternal mental health in Syrian refugee women

Abstract

IntroductionThere has been a rapid influx of 30,000 Syrian refugees in Canada, many are women of childbearing age, and most have young children. The literature reports that refugee women are almost 5 times more likely to develop postpartum depression than Canadian-born women. However, little is known about the experiences that the Syrian refugee women have encountered pre- and post-resettlement and their perceptions of mental health issues in general, and of maternal depression in particular. Thus, there is an urgent need to understand the refugee women's experiences of having a baby in Canada from a mental health perspective.MethodsParticipants include Syrian refugee women who migrated to Saskatoon Canada in 2015–16 and who were either pregnant or up to one year postpartum. Qualitative data was collected via a focus group with thematic analysis, while depression with Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and PTSD screening and sociodemographic descriptive data were collected from a structured questionnaire to provide context for the qualitative analysis.ResultsTwelve women participated in the focus group, despite smiling often, 58% of them screened as probable depression (EPDS > 10), 25% screened positive for depression (> 12 on EPDS), and 17% screened positive for PTSD. None of the women indicated intimate partner violence or suicidal thoughts. All participants indicated social support, mostly partner, and 25% had a history of depression. Thematic analysis will be shared.ConclusionsPerinatal Depression is a serious problem for refugee women that deserve more in-depth study to ensure optimal outcomes and to develop services and programs.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.