22 Volume 1 • Issue 1 • 1000106 Madridge J Womens Health Emancipation. ISSN: 2638-1575 Madridge Journal of Women’s Health and Emancipation Research Article Open Access Perceptions of Perinatal Anxiety, Depression, and Mental Health treatment in a Low-Income, Latina Population Jamie Lim Lacsina 1 *, Vivian Tang 1 , Kate Wolitzky-Taylor 2 , Doerthe Brueggmann 3 , Jenny Jaque 3 and Emily C Dossett 1 1 Department of Psychiatry, University of Southern California, USA 2 Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, USA 3 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Southern California, USA Article Info *Corresponding author: Jamie Lim Lacsina Department of Psychiatry University of Southern California 2250 Alcazar St. #2200 Los Angeles, CA 90033 USA Tel: 323-226-5555 E-mail: jllacsina@gmail.com Received: September 1, 2017 Accepted: September 18, 2017 Published: September 22, 2017 Citation: Lacsina JL, Tang VK, Wolitzky-Taylor K, Brueggmann D, Jaque J, Dossett EC. Perceptions of Perinatal Anxiety, Depression, and Mental Health treatment in a Low-Income, Latina Population. Madridge J Womens Health Emancipation. 2017; 1(1): 22-28. doi: 10.18689/mjwh-1000106 Copyright: © 2017 The Author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Published by Madridge Publishers Abstract This study examined the perceptions of Latina women regarding perinatal mental health and its treatment. Ninety-five women completed a 60-item Perinatal Mental Health Questionnaire (PMHQ). Responses to items were compared between women who completed the questionnaire in English versus Spanish. In regards to the effects of anxiety or depression on the fetus or breastfeeding infant, both English and Spanish participants expressed concern over potential high levels of harm. Despite this, both groups viewed psychotropic medication during the perinatal period to be unsafe. There was a significant difference when it came to therapy (p<0.001), with those completing Spanish questionnaires finding therapy during pregnancy to be less acceptable. A clear gap existed between the perceived high risks of untreated perinatal depression or anxiety and the low acceptability of mental health services. Understanding these results may lead to increased treatment rates and improve long-term health outcomes for both Latina mothers and their infants. Keywords: Perinatal anxiety; Depression; Latina; Low income; Postpartum depression. Introduction Perinatal depression and anxiety disorders are associated with adverse long-term health effects for both mothers and infants [19, 30]. As a result, improving mental health interventions during this critical time period may have important consequences for women and their children. A systematic review of studies predominantly performed in high-income countries estimated the prevalence of major depressive disorder to be between 3.1% and 4.9% during pregnancy and 4.7% in the first three months post- partum. When minor depression was included, prevalence was estimated to be up to 11% in pregnancy and 13% in the first three months post-partum [13]. In terms of anxiety, a study done in the U.S. found a prevalence of 13% of anxiety disorder in pregnant women or post-partum women in the past year [35]. In addition, up to one- third of women experiencing postpartum depression also meet criteria for postpartum anxiety disorder, suggesting significant comorbidity rates [28]. According to a 2010 U.S. Census report, more than half of the growth in the total population of the United States between 2000 and 2010 was due to the increase in the Latino population [9]. Although research has been limited, studies of perinatal Latinas have reported prevalence of high depressive symptoms to be between 15-31% [6, 17]. ISSN: 2638-1575