Curriculum · Screening (National/International)
Perinatal depression screening
Who is screened, and when
All women should be screened for depression during pregnancy and the postpartum period. The recommendation carries SOR B.
Both parts of that line are examinable. Who: all women, not only those with a previous history of depression or other mood disorders, and not only those who bring it up. When: during pregnancy and after it, not one or the other. What is screened for is peripartum depression, the term the material uses for depression during pregnancy and the postpartum period.
What it looks like at the bedside
The case the material works through is a mother seen at the routine newborn checkup of her 3-day-old, who is also a patient of yours. She tells you she has been crying very easily and feeling overwhelmed, and that friends have suggested she ask about an antidepressant medication. She has no previous history of depression or other mood disorders. She has no thoughts of self-harm and no intent to harm the baby or anyone else. She is breastfeeding and is otherwise healthy.
Every item of that history is there to sort one answer from another: the day 3 timing, the lack of any previous mood disorder, the lack of thoughts of self-harm or of harm to the baby, and the breastfeeding.