Maternal iron status is thought to be related to postpartum depressive symptoms. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between pre- and postnatal maternal iron status and depressive symptoms in pilot (n = 137) and confirmatory (n = 567) samples of Chinese women. Iron status was evaluated at mid- and late pregnancy and 3 days postpartum. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depres...

BACKGROUND Postnatal depression is a public health problem requiring intervention. To provide effective care, information is needed on the experiences of those with high levels of depressive symptoms who are offered and accept, or decline, psychological intervention postnatally. AIM To provide the first integrated in-depth exploration of postnatal women's experiences of the identification and...

BACKGROUND Pregnant women experience a set of biological and psychological disturbances. The aim of this study was to assess the appearance of depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts in pregnant women during the third trimester of pregnancy. SUBJECTS AND METHODS A total of 110 pregnant women were included in the study. All of them filled out an anonymous questionnaire about sociodemographic...

The goals of this study have been to determine the prevalence of the bipolar spectrum features in the population of women with postpartum depression (PPD) symptoms, as well as to analyze the personality differences between putative 'unipolar' and 'bipolar' PPD subjects. The sample enrolled into the cross-sectional study consisted of 344 women at 6-12 weeks postpartum. The authors used the Edinb...

Longitudinal studies are permeating clinical trials in psychiatry. Additionally, in the same field, rating scales are frequently used to evaluate the status of the patients and the efficacy of new therapeutic procedures. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to study the psychometric properties of these instruments within a longitudinal framework. In the area of depression, the Hamilton depress...

INTRODUCTION Postpartum depression (PPD) is one of the major psychological disorders worldwide that affects both mother and child. The aim of this study was to correlate the risk of PPD with obstetric and demographic variables in Saudi females. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data were collected by interviewing females 8-12 weeks postpartum. PPD symptoms were defined as present when subjects had an Edi...

BACKGROUND Information on clinical acceptability is needed when making cost-utility decisions about health screening implementation. Despite being in use for two decades, most data on the clinical acceptability of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) come from qualitative reports, or include relatively small samples of depressed women. This study aimed to measure acceptability in a s...

Background: Approximately 10% 15% of mothers and 10% of fathers suffer from depressive symptoms during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Both maternal and paternal postnatal depression impact adversely on the family and the child’s behavioural development. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is a widely used instrument for the measurement of risk for postnatal depression and the ...

BACKGROUND Postnatal depression affects 15% of all women derived. Good practice in antenatal and postnatal care suggests that regular contact should take place with members of the primary health care team (PHCT) but, despite this, many cases of postnatal depression are probably not detected. It is also widely perceived that depressed women consult more frequently about themselves and their babi...

OBJECTIVE Postnatal depression may interfere with breast feeding. This study tested the ability of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) to predict later breast feeding problems, hypothesising that risk of unsuccessful breast feeding increased with increasing EPDS scores, even at low values. DESIGN The authors administered the EPDS on days 2-3 after delivery to 592 mothers of a heal...