Postpartum Mood Disorders: a Multimedia Toolkit

Dates: 11/01/03 - 04/30/04
Status: Phase I complete
Funding Agency: NIH / NIMH
Reference: 1R43MH070242-01

ABSTRACT
Approximately 23% of women will experience a mood disorder at some point in their lives. Between 10 and 27% of women experience depressive symptoms during pregnancy, including 2 to 11% who experience major depressive disorder (MDD). Pregnant women are more likely to experience some form of mood disorder than gestational diabetes, preeclemsia, or preterm delivery. Still, in spite of such high rates of incidence, perinatal depression, especially depression during pregnancy, receives relatively little attention in the medical literature. Healthcare providers across all specialties receive scant training about perinatal mood disorders and little clinical time is devoted to its detection. Detection rates for depressive disorders in obstetrical settings are lower than reported in other primary care venues. Nevertheless, it is clear that obstetrical practitioners frequently encounter women with depression. This is especially likely for low-income women since they often access health care only when they are pregnant and are covered by health insurance that is not available at other times in their lives. More than 60% of low-income women receive healthcare exclusively from their obstetrical clinician.