Am J Psychiatry 1985; 142:728-731
Copyright © 1985 by American Psychiatric Association
Depressed mood during pregnancy and the puerperium: clinical recognition and implications for clinical practice
BR Saks, JB Frank, TL Lowe, W Berman, F Naftolin and DJ Cohen
Mild to moderate depression is common among women during the first 3 months
postpartum. The authors studied 20 normal pregnant women in the hope of
finding valid predictors of postpartum mood disorder. The subjects rated
their level of emotions and various depressive symptoms at 26 and 36 weeks
of pregnancy and filled out a brief questionnaire about the emotional
circumstances of their pregnancy. The mood scales were repeated at 2 days
and 6 weeks postpartum, along with a clinical interview. The antepartum
mood scale identified women with postpartum depression and differentiated
this condition from the more common, transient postpartum blues. Certain
psychosocial variables also predicted postpartum distress. The authors
discuss the implications of these findings, emphasizing the feasibility and
necessity of routine screening for mood disturbances in prenatal and
puerperal women.
