Perinatal loneliness: prevalence, impacts, drivers, interventions, solutions and future directions

Abstract

Loneliness has been associated with perinatal mental illness, which is shown to negatively affect infant mental health. This review outlines current understandings of prevalence and negative impacts, and summarises what is currently known about contributing factors, highlighting multidimensional experiences of loneliness in the perinatal period (pregnancy and two years following birth). The socio-ecological framework is used to explore evidence on individual, interpersonal, organisational, community and societal factors that contribute to perinatal loneliness. Parents who experience intersectional inequalities are most at risk, including parents who are on low incomes, young, LGBTQ+, from ethnically marginalised populations, or affected by poor health. Most interventions to reduce perinatal loneliness operate at the individual or interpersonal level. To fully address perinatal loneliness, it is also important to further explore organisational factors and adopt a spatial and social justice approach that addresses the community and societal drivers such as poverty, discrimination and unsupportive social policies.