Current Status of Social Problems during Pregnancy at a Perinatal Center in Japan

JMA J. 2020 Oct 15;3(4):307-312. doi: 10.31662/jmaj.2020-0056. Epub 2020 Oct 2.

Abstract

Introduction: To support pregnant women with serious social problems, we retrospectively examined the current status of social problems during pregnancy in Japan.

Methods: We examined the frequency, associated factors, and outcomes of the pregnant women with social problems at our institute for each year from 2016 to 2019.

Results: The frequency of pregnant women with social problems significantly increased year by year (p < 0.01). The breakdown of high-risk factors associated with the social problems has remained almost unchanged; however, the frequency of unmarried pregnant women, unplanned pregnancy, foreigners who cannot speak either Japanese or English, and pregnant women who are somehow anxious significantly increased (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: We will endeavor to solve the various social problems of pregnant women through multidisciplinary collaboration.

Keywords: Japan; perinatal center; pregnancy; social problems.