Prevalence of depressive symptoms in the immediate postpartum period

Purpose: there is currently little information about rates of positive maternal depression screens immediately after delivery; rather,most studies have assessed the prevalence of major depression between 1 and 6 months postpartum. this study investigated the rate of positive 9-item patient health questionnaire (phq-9) surveys within 1 to 2 days after delivery. methods: a retrospective chart review of phq-9 results obtained within 1 to 2 days after childbirth was performed on 441 women who delivered at 3 st. paul,mn,hospitals during february 2010. results: out of 441 deliveries recorded during the study period,phq-9 results were available for 361 women (81.9%). a total of 9 women (2.5%) had positive phq-9 scores within 1 to 2 days after delivery. conclusion: we found very low rates of depressive symptoms during the immediate postpartum period,which leads us to suggest that this is not an ideal time for postpartum depression screening or evaluation.