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Depression During and After Pregnancy
Knowledge Path

Introduction

This knowledge path about depression during and after pregnancy has been compiled by the MCH Library at Georgetown University. It offers a selection of current, high-quality resources about the prevalence and incidence of perinatal depression; identification and treatment; impact on the health and well-being of new mothers and their infants; and implications for service delivery. The knowledge path is aimed at health professionals, policymakers, program administrators, and researchers. A separate section presents resources for women experiencing perinatal depression and their families. This knowledge path will be updated periodically.

Overview

See Depression during and after pregnancy: A resource for women, their families, and friends (2006). This booklet by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) provides information about perinatal depression and its causes, risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and effects on families. A Spanish-language booklet (hard copy only) can be ordered online.

Resources for Professionals

Websites

• Healthy New Moms: Maryland's Campaign to End Depression During and After Pregnancy. Presents information and tools for this outreach campaign aimed at increasing awareness of the signs and symptoms of perinatal depression, providing information on local resources, and helping women find treatment. Includes a helpline and patient-education materials (available in English, Spanish, and Korean). This campaign is presented by the Mental Health Association of Maryland with funding from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau and support from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
  
  
• Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Women's Mental Health: Reproductive Psychiatry Resource and Information Center. Presents research and program information, bibliographies, and an electronic newsletter about the evaluation and treatment of perinatal psychiatric disorders, including depression.
  
  
• Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). Describes MCHB's initiatives on behalf of America's women, infants, children, adolescents, and their families. MCHB is part of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). In addition to the MCH Hotline and a booklet for women, resources and initiatives about perinatal depression include
  
  Perinatal Depression: Emerging Perspectives and Practices. Includes an agenda, speakers' materials, and links to additional resources related to an MCH DataSpeak audioconference about perinatal depression.
  
  Also see the MCH Library and the Discretionary Grant Information System (DGIS) for additional information about the initiatives and programs supported by MCHB that pertain to perinatal depression.
  
  
• MedEd PPD Postpartum Depression. Presents information and tools for health professionals to screen, diagnose, and treat women with postpartum depression. Resources include educational modules; a collection of slides from educational presentations; bibliographies of classic papers, screening guidelines, journal articles, and books; an identification and treatment algorithm; patient-education materials in English and Spanish; and a directory of health professionals. MedEd PPD is a peer-reviewed website developed with the support of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
  
  
• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Contains information about research, clinical trials, funding opportunities, and training about women and mental health and mental health conditions, such as depression during and after pregnancy. See ClinicalTrials.gov to identify NIMH-funded research.
  
  
• Perinatal Depression Information Network (PDIN). Presents information about perinatal depression programs, resources, and legislation in each state. Also offers conference information and an online directory for perinatal depression services for families in each state. PDIN was created by the Pennsylvania Perinatal Partnership (PPP).
  
  
• Perinatal Foundation: Perinatal Depression Resources. Presents screening tools, including tools in Hmong and Spanish, a position statement, a continuing-education module, fact sheets, posters, a collection of culturally specific narratives, and treatment references about depression during and after pregnancy. The foundation works in partnership with the Wisconsin Association for Perinatal Care to promote and implement effective perinatal practices to improve the health of infants, mothers, and families from preconception to early childhood. Recent publications and initiatives include
  
  Madre, Hay Esperanza (Mother, There Is Hope) Campaign. Presents information, radio novelas, fact sheets, and a poster for this outreach initiative in Madison, Wisconsin, to Latino families struggling with perinatal depression.
  

Additional Electronic Publications

• Ablorh-Odjidja A, Cox E, Ingoglia JN, Joseph J, Persaud N, Phillips C, Valderama C. 2007. Women's mental health: Local health department strategies in addressing depression among pregnant and parenting women. Washington, DC: National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). [Issue brief].
  
  
• Barson R. 2006. Considering interventions for depression in reproductive age women in family planning programs. Baltimore, MD: Women's and Children's Health Policy Center, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. [Policy brief].
  
  
• Chatterji P, Markowitz S. 2008. Family leave after childbirth and the health of new mothers. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). [Paper].
  
  
• Declercq ER, Sakala C, Corry MP, Applebaum S. 2008. New mothers speak out: National survey results highlight women's postpartum experiences. New York, NY: Childbirth Connections. [Report].
  
  
• Gaynes BN, Gavin N, Meltzer-Brody S, Lohr KN, Swinson T, Gartlehner G, Brody S, Miller WC. 2005. Perinatal depression: Prevalence, screening accuracy, and screening outcomes. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). [Report].
  
  
• Jellinek M, Patel BP, Froehle MC, eds. 2002. Bright Futures in practice: Mental health. (2 v.). Arlington, VA: National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health. [Guide]. A section is devoted to postpartum mood disorders and their effects on individual and family functioning.
  
  
• Knitzer J, Theberge S, Johnson K. 2008. Reducing maternal depression and its impact on young children: Toward a responsive early childhood policy framework. New York, NY: National Center for Children in Poverty. [Policy brief].
  
  
• Office of the Surgeon General. 2008. Surgeon General's Workshop on Women's Mental Health: Workshop report. Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). [Report]. Perinatal depression is addressed.
  
  
• Olson A, Gaffney C. 2007. Parental depression screening for pediatric clinicians: An implementation manual. New York, NY: Commonwealth Fund. [Manual].
  
  
• Stillman E. 2007. Mood disorders and hormonal transitions: The ups and downs. Washington, DC: Society for Women's Health Research. [Report]. In addition to the report, the Society offers the results of a survey of women and medical doctors to gauge their perceptions about depression in women with an emphasis on depression through hormonal transitions, such as pregnancy.
  
  
• Van Landeghem K. 2006. Financing strategies for Medicaid reimbursement of maternal depression screening by pediatric providers. Portland, ME: National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP). [Issue brief].
  

Databases

See the following set of MCH Library resource briefs to identify additional data and statistics, literature and research, and programs about depression during and after pregnancy.

• Maternal and Child Health Data and Statistics
• Maternal and Child Health Literature and Research Databases
• Maternal and Child Health Programs Databases
  

Electronic Newsletter

• Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Women's Mental Health: Women's Mental Health Bulletin. This newsletter addresses topics in the field of perinatal and reproductive psychiatry and provides updates on new research at the center.
  

Resources for Women and Their Families

• See the MCH Library family resource brief Depression During and After Pregnancy.
  

Related MCH Library Resources

• Community Services Locator: An Online Directory for Finding Community Services for Children and Families knowledge path
• Medications resource brief
• Preconception and Pregnancy knowledge path, family resource brief

Depression During and After Pregnancy: Knowledge Path, 3rd ed. (February 2009). (Updated: February 2012).
Author: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., MCH Library.
Reviewers: Diana Cheng, M.D., Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; Olivia K. Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., MCH Library.
Editor: Ruth Barzel, M.A., MCH Library.