Perinatal Psychiatry
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“Our Thematic Working Group (TWG) is dedicated to connecting internationally recognised academic and clinical scientists to foster a global perinatal mental health community. Our mission is to improve the mental and physical well-being of women during the perinatal period, as well as the health of their offspring. In addition to our academic and clinical initiatives, we actively engage in public outreach to share key findings in perinatal psychiatry and to address the emotions and experiences that characterise this crucial life stage. For instance, the event Luci e Ombre was organised to touch people’s hearts through art and dance, creating an emotional journey that symbolizes hope and light.”
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Annamaria Cattaneo
Chair of the TWG
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Mission statement / Aims
Pregnancy and postpartum are vulnerable periods marked by significant physical, psychological, and socioeconomic changes. The process of adapting to these changes can lead to considerable physical and emotional distress, heightening the risk of developing psychiatric disorders. The nosology and specificity of perinatal mental health remain subjects of debate. There is ongoing controversy over whether these disorders are unique in terms of their causes and psychopathology or are similar to mental health disorders that occur at other times in life.
The Thematic Working Group on Perinatal Psychiatry aims to connect internationally recognised academic and clinical centres to foster a global perinatal mental health community. This initiative seeks to advance high-quality research and clinical care worldwide.
Our core focus is to deepen the understanding of genetic, epigenetic, inflammatory, and immune mechanisms contributing to mood disorders’ onset and recurrence during the perinatal period. This knowledge is vital for advancing maternal mental health and improving both immediate perinatal outcomes and long-term health and developmental trajectories for infants, offering potential lifelong benefits for mothers and their children. Our multidisciplinary research spans from foundational science to health service applications, driving the creation of evidence-based care and prevention strategies.
The overarching goal of this TWG is to foster collaboration among experts from various disciplines, including psychiatrists, psychologists, biologists, paediatricians, obstetricians, midwives, nurses, and early childhood specialists. Together, we aim to promote, facilitate, and disseminate research focused on antepartum and postpartum maternal mental illness (epidemiological studies, studies coming from clinical practice/real-world settings, interventional studies focusing on the psychopharmacological, psychological, and psychosocial therapeutic strategies in the management of pregnant and/or puerperal women affected by a mental disorder).
The other aims of the Perinatal Psychiatry TWG are:
- Providing a platform facilitating collaboration between clinicians and researchers to perform multi-level, interdisciplinary research into peripartum mental illness aetiology, maintenance, and remission
- Launching collaborative international projects and submitting grant applications to the EU and other funding organisations
- Organise meetings targeted at new research to better understand peripartum mental health and share ongoing studies in the different laboratories
- Work in defining guidelines for novel development for treating and managing peripartum mental health.
- Providing support for early- and mid-career scientists in this field through education, training, and dissemination sessions.
- Disseminating the principal results and innovations in the field to the public by organising events to talk about mental issues in the perinatal period via an engagement of stakeholders and patients’ associations.
