Consultation-Liaison Telepsychiatry on an Inpatient Obstetrical Labor and Delivery Unit.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Limited access to mental health resources has challenged clinicians in delivering early behavioral health interventions to perinatal populations. We describe telepsychiatry consultations to a rural hospital's labor and delivery unit. OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate how consultation-liaison services during peripartum hospitalization could meet this need. METHODS: One-year data from electronic medical records of women who were at risk of postpartum syndromes and offered a telepsychiatry consult was extracted and reviewed. RESULTS: A total of 85 consults were conducted via telepsychiatry primarily for depression, anxiety, and medication management. Bedside psychotherapeutic interventions and education were provided to 63 patients, medications were initiated for 32 patients, and outpatient referrals were made for 47 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that consultation-liaison telehealth can successfully engage at-risk mothers in psychiatric treatment. Given accelerated telemedicine efforts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, improving access to telepsychiatry for rural, peripartum populations is an important area of development.