Clinics in Mother and Child Health

Indigenous Women's Perspectives on Mental Health Problems

Irene Bassano^* Department of Pediatrics, CHU Yalgado Ouedraogo, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, West Africa
^*Correspondence: Irene Bassano, Department of Pediatrics, CHU Yalgado Ouedraogo, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, West Africa, Email:

Received: 03-Oct-2022, Manuscript No. CMCH-22-18743; Editor assigned: 05-Oct-2022, Pre QC No. CMCH-22-18743 (PQ); Reviewed: 21-Oct-2022, QC No. CMCH-22-18743; Revised: 28-Oct-2022, Manuscript No. CMCH-22-18743 (R); Published: 04-Nov-2022, DOI: 10.35248/2090-7214.22.19.431

About the Study

Perinatal mental health issues are widespread, and they disproportionately affect Indigenous and minority communities due to a variety of circumstances, such as institutional racism, low socioeconomic position, and poor physical health. This is according to a growing corpus of research. Indigenous women have a nearly two-fold higher risk of perinatal and postnatal mental health issues than non-Indigenous women, according to recent meta-analyses. Children of Indigenous women also have a higher chance of a variety of worsened health and developmental outcomes.

The growth and health of children are influenced by a number of mother perinatal variables, including mental health issues. Results of systematic study and meta-analyses of published studies have shown significant correlations between perinatal maternal mental health issues and child outcomes in the general population, including child maltreatment, injuries, asthma, and behavioural, cognitive, and socioemotional development. Nevertheless, few researches have examined the relationship between maternal mental health issues and child outcomes among Indigenous people, despite the higher frequency of maternal mental health disorders among Indigenous women. Children born to Indigenous women are exposed to a number of cumulative adversities and dangers throughout their lives in addition to higher maternal mental health issues. For instance, Indigenous Australian children are more likely to be born preterm and with low birth weight, which increases their sensitivity to developmental issues, as well as their likelihood of experiencing homelessness, divorce, and jail. Additionally, it is yet unknown whether maternal mental health issues among Indigenous women differ in how they affect the outcomes of children. Understanding the health and developmental outcomes of children born to Indigenous women with mental health issues will help with the adoption of tailored preventative and intervention measures that effectively support Indigenous women.

Only one systematic study that examined the emotional and behavioural functioning of child of Indigenous parents with mental health issues was found in our thorough literature search. Among comparison to children of Indigenous parents without mental health issues, the study discovered an up to four time’s greater risk of externalizing and internalizing behaviours in children of Indigenous parents with mental health issues. Even though this systematic study contains useful information, there are still a number of problems to be solved. The study explicitly avoided discussing perinatal mother mental health issues in favour of concentrating solely on the results for children's mental health. In addition, because the majority of the included studies were cross-sectional, the temporal order of exposure and result was unclear.

The study solely focused on Indigenous mothers and their children's health and developmental outcomes during infancy and early childhood-a crucial phase of development-because Indigenous people have a higher frequency of mental health issues and other concerns than the general population. The types and levels of evidence that are now available could be identified through a systematic scoping study and used to guide clinical procedures, public health policies, and future research paths. As a result, the goals of this systematic scoping study are to: 1) thoroughly study the literature on the effects of perinatal maternal mental health issues on the health and developmental outcomes of Indigenous infants and children, 2) determine whether the effect varies depending on the severity and onset of maternal mental illness, and 3) pinpoint any evidence gaps.

This is the first scoping assessment that, as far as we are aware, has systematically assessed the effect of mother perinatal mental health issues on perinatal and childhood outcomes among Indigenous people. Any study kind was included, and there was no time limit. We included any study type without regard to time constraints. Because of the small number of studies, we were unable to determine whether the impact of maternal mental health problems varies by severity and onset, highlighting the need for better designed prospective cohort studies to establish this critical evidence base.

This systematic study discovered few and mostly small-scale studies examining the relationship between maternal mental health problems and perinatal and child health and development outcomes in the Indigenous population. Although there appears to be a link between maternal substance abuse and child outcomes, the link with other critical maternal illnesses (depression and anxiety) remains inconclusive. As a result, well- designed studies are urgently needed to draw definitive conclusions about the impact of maternal mental health problems on child health and development outcomes in Indigenous populations.