Care from health visitors trained in psychological intervention methods may prevent depression in mothers not depressed 6 weeks postnatally.

Nurses and midwives who provide postnatal care need ■ to receive training in identifi cation and psychological intervention methods to prevent depression. They will need to provide more visits to all mothers ■ within the fi rst 12-month postdelivery. Further randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in this ■ area should utilise midwives/health visitors (HVs) as the administrators of the intervention. They should also seek control for the increased num ■ ber of contacts associated with interventions of this nature. There is a need for further RCTs in postnatal care ■ to disentangle the effects of perceived support, the therapeutic relationship and the psychological intervention.