ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Obstetrics and Gynecology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1623596
This article is part of the Research TopicPerinatal mental health: Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and FearView all 16 articles
Perinatal mental health in Singapore - Prevalence, Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices
Provisionally accepted
- 1Division of Obstetrics & Gynecology, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore, Singapore., Singapore, Singapore
- 2Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- 3Department of Maternal Fetal Medicine, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore, Singapore., Singapore, Singapore
- 4Department of Psychological Medicine, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore, Singapore., Singapore, Singapore
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ABSTRACT Introduction There is limited data on perinatal depression and anxiety rates, as well as on knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to perinatal mental health (PMH), particularly in an urban Southeast Asian population. Methods From September to December 2022, 446 antenatal and 150 postnatal participants completed a 38-item survey assessing depressive and anxiety symptoms, along with knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding PMH. Probable depression was defined as an Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) score of ≥15 during pregnancy or ≥13 postnatal. Probable anxiety was defined using the EPDS anxiety subscale (EPDS-3A), which comprises items 3, 4, and 5, with a score of ≥5 indicating probable anxiety. Results The rates of probable depression were 11.9% antenatally and 23.7% postnatally, while anxiety rates were 48.4% and 56.7%, respectively. Only 63.8% of participants could identify symptoms of mental health disorders, and just 24.1% had received assessment or education from healthcare professionals. Although most women (57.0%) would seek support from their spouse or partner, only 15.5% indicated willingness to consult healthcare professionals. Most participants supported the need for mental health education (89.5%), screening (87.4%), and tailored guidelines (94.5%) for perinatal women. Conclusion High rates of probable depression and anxiety, coupled with low mental health literacy, highlight the urgent need for comprehensive PMH education and guidelines in Singapore.
Keywords: perinatal, antenatal, postnatal, Mental Health, KAP (Knowledge, Attitude and Practice)
Received: 06 May 2025; Accepted: 21 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Quah, Poo, Chen, Chua, Tan and Tan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Phaik Ling Quah, Division of Obstetrics & Gynecology, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore, Singapore., Singapore, Singapore
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