Abstract
The purpose of this scoping review was to summarize research that uses linked data to examine peripartum suicidal behaviours and critically appraise studies to identify evidence gaps and future research priorities. A systematic search of PubMed, Scopus, and grey literature was undertaken to identify data linkage studies that examined suicidal behaviours among women in the peripartum period. All articles available through PubMed and Scopus up until the search date of 26 September 2019 were deemed eligible for inclusion. A grey literature search was also undertaken, through the Google search engine, on 11 November 2019. Studies were analysed descriptively and synthesized qualitatively. Eighteen studies were identified that met inclusion criteria. All studies examined the incidence of suicidal behaviours. Twelve studies examined sociodemographic correlates, associations, or risk factors, and nine studies examined mental health. There was a high degree of variability regarding how both peripartum status and suicidal behaviours were defined. Few studies used data linkage to examine suicidal behaviours from a health services or social services perspective. The evidence base could benefit from conceptual clarity and standardization of constructs regarding suicidal behaviours in the peripartum period, to enable meaningful synthesis of results across studies. Data linkage can be used to improve understandings of risk factors and pathways. It can also be harnessed to examine both health and social services utilization, to inform coordinated multi-sectoral interventions and care pathways for women and their children.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alhusen JL, Frohman N, Purcell G (2015) Intimate partner violence and suicidal ideation in pregnant women. Arch Women’s Ment Health 18:573–578. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-015-0515-2
Appleby L (1996) Suicidal behaviour in childbearing women. Int Rev Psychiatry 8:107–115. https://doi.org/10.3109/09540269609037823
Appleby L, Mortensen P, Faraghar E (1998) Suicide and other causes of mortality after post-partum psychiatric admission. Br J Psychiatry 173:209–211
Austin AE, Vladutiu CJ, Jones-Vessey KA, Norwood TS, Proescholdbell SK, Menard MK (2016) Improved ascertainment of pregnancy-associated suicides and homicides in Nsssssorth Carolina. Am J Prev Med 51:S234-s240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2016.04.023
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2020) Maternal deaths in Australia 2015–2017. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra
Ayre K, Dutta R, Howard L (2019) Perinatal self-harm: an overlooked public health issue. Lancet Public Health 4:e125. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(19)30020-9
Ayre K, Gordon H, Dutta R, Hodsoll J, Howard LM (2020) The prevalence and correlates of self-harm in the perinatal period: a systematic review. J Clin Psychiatry 81:19r12773. https://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.19r12773
Chen YH, Lau G (2008) Maternal deaths from suicide in Singapore. Singapore Med J 49:694–697
Comtois KA, Schiff MA, Grossman DC (2008) Psychiatric risk factors associated with postpartum suicide attempt in Washington State, 1992–2001. Am J Obstet Gynecol 199(120):e121–e125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2008.02.011
Esscher A, Essen B, Innala E, Papadopoulos FC, Skalkidou A, Sundstrom-Poromaa I, Hogberg U (2016) Suicides during pregnancy and 1 year postpartum in Sweden, 1980-2007. Br J Psychiatry 208:462–469. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.114.161711
Gandhi SG, Gilbert WM, McElvy SS, El Kady D, Danielson B, Xing G, Smith LH (2006) Maternal and neonatal outcomes after attempted suicide. Obstet Gynecol 107:984–990. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.AOG.0000216000.50202.f6
Gavin AR, Tabb KM, Melville JL, Guo Y, Katon W (2011) Prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation during pregnancy. Arch Women’s Ment Health 14:239–246. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-011-0207-5
Geulayov G, Gunnell D, Holmen TL, Metcalfe C (2012) The association of parental fatal and non-fatal suicidal behaviour with offspring suicidal behaviour and depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychol Med 42:1567–1580. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291711002753
Gissler M, Hemminki E, Lonnqvist J (1996) Suicides after pregnancy in Finland, 1987–94: Register linkage study. BMJ 313:1431–1434
Glasser S, Levinson D, Gordon ES, Braun T, Haklai Z, Goldberger N (2018) The tip of the iceberg: postpartum suicidality in Israel. Isr J Health Policy Res 7:34. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13584-018-0228-x
Gold KJ, Singh V, Marcus SM, Palladino CL (2012) Mental health, substance use and intimate partner problems among pregnant and postpartum suicide victims in the National Violent Death Reporting System. Gen Hosp Psychiatry 34:139–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2011.09.017
Goldman-Mellor S, Margerison C (2019) Maternal drug-related death and suicide are leading causes of postpartum death in California. Am J Obstet Gynecol 221:e1–e9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2019.05.045
Grigoriadis S et al (2017) Perinatal suicide in Ontario, Canada: a 15-year population-based study. Cmaj 189:E1085–e1092
Hjelmeland H (2011) Cultural context is crucial in suicide research and prevention. Crisis 32:61–64. https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000097
Hjelmeland H, Knizek B (2017) Suicide and mental disorders: a discourse of politics, power, and vested interests. Death Stud 41:481–492. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2017.1332905
Howard LM, Khalifeh H (2020) Perinatal mental health: a review of progress and challenges. World Psychiatry 19:313–327. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20769
Knight M, Bunch K, Tuffnell D, Shakespeare J, Kotnis R, Kenyon S, Kurinczuk Je (2019) Saving lives, improving mothers’ care: lessons learned to inform maternity care from the UK and Ireland Confidential Enquries into Maternal Deaths and Morbidity 2015-17. National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford
Lysell H, Dahlin M, Viktorin A, Ljungberg E, D’Onofrio B, Dickman P, Runeson B (2018) Maternal suicide - register based study of all suicides occurring after delivery in Sweden 1974-2009. PLoS One 13:e0190133. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0190133
Meurk C, Wittenhagen L, Steele M, Ferris L, Edwards B, Bosley E, Heffernan E (2020) Examining the use of police and ambulance data in suicide research: a rapid scoping review of data linkage studies Crisis. https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000739
Mittendorfer-Rutz E, Rasmussen F, Wasserman DJSP, Epidemiology P (2008) Familial clustering of suicidal behaviour and psychopathology in young suicide attempters. 43:28–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-007-0266-0
Moher D, Liberati A, Tetzlaff J, Altman DG, The Prisma Group (2009) Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement. PLoS Med 6:e1000097. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000097
O’Connor A, Geraghty S, Doleman G, De Leo A (2018) Suicidal ideation in the perinatal period: a systematic review. Mentl Health Prev 12:67–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhp.2018.10.002
Palladino CL, Singh V, Campbell J, Flynn H, Gold KJ (2011) Homicide and suicide during the perinatal period: findings from the National Violent Death Reporting System. Obstet Gynecol 118:1056–1063. https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0b013e31823294da
Queensland Health (2020) Queensland mothers and babies 2016 and 2017: report of the Queensland maternal and perinatal quality council 2019. Queensland Health, Brisbane, Queensland
Samandari G, Martin S, Kupper L, Schiro S, Norwood TS, Avery M (2011) Are pregnant and postpartum women: at increased risk for violent death? Suicide and homicide findings from North Carolina. Matern Child Health J 15:660–669. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-010-0623-6
Schiff MA, Grossman DC (2006) Adverse perinatal outcomes and risk for postpartum suicide attempt in Washington state, 1987-2001. Pediatrics 118:e669–e675. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2006-0116
State of Victoria (2018) Victoria’s mothers, babies and children. Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity Melbourne, Victoria
Taylor CL, Stewart R, Ogden J, Broadbent M, Pasupathy D, Howard LM (2015) The characteristics and health needs of pregnant women with schizophrenia compared with bipolar disorder and affective psychoses. BMC Psychiatry 15:1–10
Taylor CL, van Ravesteyn LM, van denBerg MP, Stewart RJ, Howard LM (2016) The prevalence and correlates of self-harm in pregnant women with psychotic disorder and bipolar disorder. Arch Womens Ment Health 19:909–915. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-016-0636-2
Thornton C, Schmied V, Dennis CL, Barnett B, Dahlen HG (2013) Maternal deaths in NSW (2000-2006) from nonmedical causes (suicide and trauma) in the first year following birth. Biomed Res Int 2013:623743. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/623743
Weng SC, Chang JC, Yeh MK, Wang SM, Chen YH (2016) Factors influencing attempted and completed suicide in postnatal women: a population-based study in Taiwan. Sci Rep 6:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep25770
Funding
Carla Meurk is employed by The Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, which receives core funding from Queensland Health.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Meurk, C., Wittenhagen, L., Lucke, J. et al. Suicidal behaviours in the peripartum period: a systematic scoping review of data linkage studies. Arch Womens Ment Health 24, 579–593 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-021-01102-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-021-01102-x