(1084) A pilot randomized trial of an intervention to prevent postpartum depression in hospitalized antepartum patients

A single-center, randomized controlled trial of pregnant people (20-35 weeks) admitted from 7/2021-3/2022 for Obstetric complications with an expected hospital stay of 7 days. Subjects randomly assigned to receive the intervention (n=14) or treatment as usual (n=13). Four antenatal sessions and one postpartum session of the standardized program (ROSE: Reach Out, Stay strong, Essentials for new mothers) were performed by a single interventionist for participants allocated to receive it. A structured diagnostic interview for depression, and screening assessments for depression, anxiety, and perceived stress, were administered at baseline, post-intervention, and at 6 weeks postpartum to assess for trends in changes in diagnosis and symptoms.

Results:

Participant characteristics are shown in Table 1. Mean antenatal length of stay was 27.3±16.9 days with delivery at 33.0±2.7 weeks. At 6 weeks postpartum, there was a statistically significant decrease in symptoms of depression in participants receiving the intervention compared to treatment as usual (mean Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale score difference, Intervention: -8.1 ± 6.1, Treatment as usual: -1.7± 5.4, p=0.01). There were no significant changes in measures of anxiety or perceived stress.

Conclusion:

Our study uniquely demonstrates that a low-resource, low-cost intervention delivered by non-specialists with brief training can be successfully implemented on inpatient antenatal units and suggests it may be useful as a preventive intervention for postpartum depression.  A larger, powered, clinical trial with a more diverse sample population and adaptations of program content to better suit the needs of inpatient participants can expand upon these preliminary findings.