P0050 - Identifying Maternal and Paternal Postpartum Depression in the Primary Care Setting with Appropriate Intervention and Follow-Up

Background: The American Academy of Pediatrics as well as the Department of Health and Human Services for Medicare and Medicaid call for pediatricians to screen for maternal depression at newborn exams and well child checks following the initial visit. Postpartum depression is something that has been studied for years in medicine, more so its effects on mothers as opposed to fathers. The overall goal of this study is to show other providers that there is a simple yet effective way to screen for both maternal and paternal postpartum depression and if done properly with the appropriate intervention can have a positive impact on not only the parents but the baby as well.

Methods: This was a prospective study of mothers and fathers with babies between the ages of 2 weeks to 4 months who presented to an outpatient general pediatrics clinic. Parents were asked to complete the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale upon arrival. Part 1 of our study simply looked at the parents’ response rate to be willing to fill out the survey. Part 2 was seeing if the scale could be used for both mothers and fathers. For part 3, an intervention was done (recommended counseling or a return OB visit) if patients had a positive score (10 or above or answering anything other than “never” for question 10). In addition, a 6 month follow up to see if they sought appropriate help.

Results: Of the first 50 parents with whom the survey was offered for part 1, 50 (100%) of them agreed to complete it. Of the 184 parents from part 2 (126 females and 58 males), 20 (10.8%) had a positive score and intervention was done. Of the females, 18 (14.3%) had a positive score and for the males, 2 (3.4%). At 6 month follow up, 18 (90%) were contacted and reported improvement with 15 (75%) of them seeking further help per the intervention.

Discussion: The present work supports the conclusion that both maternal and paternal postpartum depression can be identified by using a survey that has been frequently used in research to identify only maternal postpartum depression. All patients in our study were willing to fill out the survey and the majority with whom an intervention was provided sought appropriate help which in the end can be beneficial to both the parent and the child.