Peer-reviewed article
Unseen and underserved: A scoping review of perinatal mental health interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Aboul-Enein BH, Ballout S, Kelly PJ ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This scoping review examines 57 mental health interventions for pregnant and postpartum women across 18 Sub-Saharan African countries. Most interventions used strong research methods and included cognitive-behavioral therapy, problem-solving therapy, psychoeducation, and community-based programs delivered by community health workers. While most studies showed reductions in depressive symptoms and improved psychosocial outcomes, few addressed scalability, health system integration, or cost-effectiveness. The review identifies gaps in technology use, health professional involvement, and sustainable implementation.
Key points
- 57 intervention studies were identified across 18 Sub-Saharan African countries targeting perinatal mental health
- Most interventions focused on individual or mother-infant level, delivered by community health workers
- Common intervention types included cognitive-behavioral therapy, problem-solving therapy, psychoeducation, and cash transfers
- Majority of studies reported reductions in depressive symptoms and improved psychosocial outcomes
- Critical gaps remain in scalability, health system integration, cost-effectiveness evaluation, health professional education, and technology interventions
Limitations
This is a scoping review that maps the landscape of existing interventions rather than synthesizing effectiveness evidence with meta-analysis. The review is limited to English-language peer-reviewed studies published from 2000 to March 2026, which may exclude relevant grey literature and studies in other languages.
Abstract
Maternal mental health (MMH) remains a critical public health issue across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Despite the high burden, access to culturally appropriate and evidence-based mental health interventions remains limited. This scoping review examines interventions targeting mental health outcomes for pregnant and postpartum women across SSA countries. Guided by PRISMA-ScR and Arksey and O'Malley's framework, a comprehensive search was conducted across 14 electronic databases for peer-reviewed intervention studies published in English between 2000 and March 2026. A total of 57 studies across 18 SSA countries were identified with interventions primarily focused on the individual or mother-infant level. The majority used strong research methods, with widely varying intervention content, including cognitive-behavioral therapy, problem-solving therapy, psychoeducation, and community-based programs, often delivered by community health workers, focusing on problem-solving skills, and involving cash transfers. While most studies reported reductions in depressive symptoms and improved psychosocial outcomes, few addressed scalability, health system integration, or cost-effectiveness. Few studies worked with health professionals or included technology interventions. A wide range of mental health interventions show promise in addressing perinatal mental health in SSA. However, gaps remain in scaling up sustainable, culturally relevant, and system-integrated interventions. Future efforts should prioritize provider education, health system strengthening, and evaluation of economic impact to enhance MMH outcomes across the region. To have a significant impact on perinatal mental health, future interventions that focus on cost-effectiveness, scalability, health professions education, and integration of technology are needed.