Counselling of postnatal depression: a controlled study on a population based Swedish sample.
In a two-stage screening procedure using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at 8 and 12 weeks postpartum and the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and DSM-III-R at about 13 weeks postpartum, 41 women identified as depressed were randomly allocated to a study and a control group. The women in the study group received 6 weekly, counselling visits by the Child Health Clinic nurse and the control group received routine primary care. Twelve (80%) of 15 women with major depression in the study group were fully recovered after the intervention compared to 4 (25%) of 16 in the control group. Counselling by health nurses is helpful in managing postnatal depression and seems to work well within the Swedish Primary Health Care system.
Wickberg
B
B
Department of Psychology, Göteborg University, Sweden.
Hwang
C P
CP
D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003376:Counseling; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric