Simone Honikman – The Conversation

Untreated, mental health conditions can cause preterm birth and low birth weight. Getty Images

December 6, 2024

Mental health and motherhood: South Africa now has treatment guidelines, the trick will be to make them work

Simone Honikman, University of Cape Town and Saleha Suleman, University of the Western Cape

Mental health needs for pregnant women and mothers with newborn babies are being recognised at last in South Africa.

The mental health of mothers has important implications for children and families. Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images

June 20, 2022

Supporting women with mental ill‑health in pregnancy and after birth: lessons from South Africa

Simone Honikman, University of Cape Town and Shanon McNab

Maternal mental health conditions are a reflection of harmful social and economic factors that plague women in general.

Bev Meldrum

August 20, 2017

How hunger affects the mental health of pregnant mothers

Zulfa Abrahams, University of Cape Town and Simone Honikman, University of Cape Town

Women who don’t get enough to eat while pregnant face a high risk of developing common mental illnesses like depression and anxiety during pregnancy and after giving birth.

Pregnant women in South Africa who live in poor communities are more likely to consider or attempt suicide than the general population. Mike Hutchings/Reuters

January 19, 2017

How social factors drive up suicide rates among pregnant women

Jason Bantjes, Stellenbosch University; Nnachebe Michael Onah, University of Waterloo; Sally Field, University of Cape Town, and Simone Honikman, University of Cape Town

Depression may lead pregnant women to engage in suicidal behaviour. But the socioeconomic contexts pregnant women are in may also contribute to their suicide risk.

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