Screening of Pregnant women for Perinatal Depression within Antenatal Care

Dr. Shaherzad Sohail , Prof. Dr. Nazli Hameed,Dr. Ayesha, Dr. Mariam Khalid   

Introduction: 

Pregnancy and the postnatal periods are psychologically distressing times for women due to large and varied range of physiological changes that are associated with these processes.[1] Unless dealt with in a timely manner, such distressing periods are likely to culminate in the development of life-long mental illnesses.

Globally maternal mental health problems are considered as a major public health challenge .Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. 

Unfortunately, despite being highly prevalent, maternal mental health problems remain significantly under-recognized and therefore under-treated.[2]

Improving mental health of women should be one of the top priorities of any nation. Depressive disorders are ranked fourth in terms of global burden of disease. It is estimated that 10–15% of women in developed countries and 20–40% of women in developing countries experience depression during pregnancy or after childbirth.[3] Although the worldwide prevalence of postnatal depression is around 13%, it stands between 28-63% in the Pakistani women.[4]

Women maternal mental health is deserving of special and urgent attention here in Pakistan. There is a dire need to develop appropriate protocols for early identification, treatment and prevention of adverse effects of antenatal depression particularly in low resource settings.

In our department we want to establish  proper protocol for evaluation of women at risk of  antenatal depression. So,  we conducted this study to screen the women by using EPDS and to identify the risk factors responsible for the development of depression.