Perinatal mental health and reproductive rights in women with severe mental illness

Introduction: Women with severe mental illness and psychosocial disabilities face significant barriers to exercising their reproductive, maternal, and parenting rights. Despite growing recognition of perinatal mental health as a public health priority, international legal obligations concerning motherhood and early parenting among women with severe mental illness remain insufficiently examined.

Materials and methods: This study employs a doctrinal and interdisciplinary approach to analyse international human rights obligations relating to perinatal mental health, psychosocial disability, and reproductive rights. The analysis focuses on the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), complemented by a narrative review of relevant scientific literature.

Results: International human rights law establishes a coherent framework requiring States to ensure access to perinatal mental healthcare, protect reproductive autonomy, recognise legal capacity, and provide support for parenting and family life. The CRPD, particularly Articles 12 and 23, shifts the focus from paternalistic models of incapacity and risk management towards supported decision-making and rights-based approaches to motherhood. However, substantial gaps persist between international standards and institutional practices, including psychiatric stigma, mother–infant separation, and insufficient support services.

Conclusions: States have positive obligations to develop integrated, community-based, and rights-oriented perinatal services that support maternal recovery, preserve family relationships, and enable women with severe mental illness to exercise motherhood on an equal basis with others.