Background: One in five mothers experience mental health problems during pregnancy and the first year of their child's life. However, despite the prevalence of problems during this so-called perinatal period, gaps between care needs and actual support-seeking seem to remain. Although some services for this period are available, the capacity for specialist services in Austria is low, with significant regional variations and a complete absence of offers in some regions. Furthermore, the actual uptake of available options in Austria is currently unknown. The aim of this report was therefore to provide an overview of the use of different mental health services and additional benefits before and during the perinatal period in Austria.

Methods: We descriptively analysed the uptake of five different ÖGK-funded mental health benefits by ÖGK-insured women who gave birth in 2017 or 2018 one year before and during the perinatal period. The examined mental health benefits were hospital, community-based psychiatric and psychotherapy services, prescribed psychotropic medication, and sick leaves with an ICD-10-F diagnosis. The observation period ranged from one year before pregnancy to the perinatal period. The total period as well as differences between one year before pregnancy, during pregnancy and one year after giving birth were examined.

Results: A total of 131,025 ÖGK-insured women gave birth in 2017 or 2018, representing around 80% of all births in Austria during that time. One in four women during the entire observation period and one in five women during the perinatal period claimed benefits. Most women claimed only one benefit and only during one of the three periods. Benefits were claimed more frequently by the youngest (≤20 years) and the oldest (≥41 years) women. The most claimed benefit were psychotherapy services (17%), followed by prescriptions of psychotropic substances (7%). With only 2%, hospital services were claimed the least.

Conclusion: Although many available services are not included in this report due to the unavailability of data, service uptake rates correspond to international prevalence figures. Since there is currently only little specialist perinatal mental health care available, this report highlights the need for training of professionals and the expansion of an integrated perinatal mental health infrastructure.