ArticleBMC pregnancy and childbirth2026
Exploring the effects of mental health on bonding and caregiving among pregnant and postpartum persons with likely depression and/or PTSD in South Africa: a qualitative analysis.
Article in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
- Update of
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Perinatal mental health disorders place a particularly high public health burden on South Africa (SA) via adverse health outcomes for the birthing parent and for their infants, and contribute to emotional and behavioral problems later in childhood. There is little research exploring the anticipated impacts mental health symptoms have on one’s ability to emotionally connect or care for their infant after delivery. HIV-negative pregnant persons were recruited from an antenatal clinic in Cape Town as a part of a larger study investigating mental health barriers to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake during pregnancy. Participants qualified for an in-depth interview based on elevated symptoms of depression and/or PTSD. The interviews explored the likely impact of their mental health symptoms on their baby’s wellbeing, their ability to bond with their baby, and their ability to meet their baby’s needs. After transcription and translation of interviews, a codebook was developed using inductive and deductive methods. Coded data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Twenty-three participants completed 30 interviews (seven were interviewed twice—once during pregnancy and once post-delivery); on average, they were 25.1 years old and had 2.1 previous pregnancies. Three themes emerged from interviews: (1) a strong perceived connection between maternal mental health and baby’s wellbeing; (2) perceived strains on bonding with the baby; and (3) the impact of mental health on the likelihood of completing parenting tasks. These results provide insight on how women expect their mental health symptoms to impact their ability to care for their baby, and also how a sense of resilience can contribute to overcoming anticipated mental health challenges. This study will inform future mental health programming to prepare pregnant persons with mental health symptoms for a successful postpartum period with respect to bonding and caring for their infant.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.