Health care in mental disorders in the period of puerperium

Abstract

Introduction: In the puerperium, women undergoes intense changes of family and social order, as well as psychological and biological adaptations, which are marked by complex metabolic and hormonal alterations, being the phase of greatest risk for the development of some mental disorder. Objective: Conduct a review of the literature to identify health care in mental disorders in the postpartum period. Methodology: Descriptive study in the integrative review modality, carried out with original articles available in Portuguese, English and Spanish, published in the scientific electronic library online (SCIELO) and Latin American literature in health sciences (LILACS) databases, from 2015 to 2021 with the following descriptors: nursing care, mental disorders and postpartum period. Results: Fifty-eight articles were found, of which 17 were selected at the end of the process. 10 studies showed factors associated with mental disorder, 4 studies described protective measures and 3 addressed health care actions in the intervention of mental disorders in the puerperium. Conclusions: After analyzing the literature, we observed that low social and family support were shown to be the main risk factors associated with mental disorders for the puerperal. On the other hand, the protective factors were related to increased family and care support through health services, as well as the importance of nursing in the implementation of preventive strategies for mental disorders in the puerperium.