How can we identify vulnerable mothers who do not reach the cut off 12 points in EPDS?
Magnusson, M.; Lagerberg, D.; Sundelin, C.
Journal of Child Health Care for Professionals Working with Children in the Hospital and Community 15(1): 39-49
2011
ISSN/ISBN: 1741-2889 PMID: 21451009 DOI: 10.1177/1367493510397622Document Number: 572103
The aim was to investigate the correspondence between 352 mother's self-reports about postpartum distress in a questionnaire including an item about distress 18 months after birth and their earlier scores within, on average, 2.5 months of childbirth from a screening with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Mothers who did not reach the EPDS score of 12 points, but reported that they had been sad/depressed after childbirth, were similar in socio-demographic variables to mothers with no outcomes in sadness/depression issues. In items related to negative parenting and perceptions of the child, they presented the same picture as those with high EPDS scores who also reported having been depressed. These results suggest that EPDS does not identify all vulnerable mothers. Complementary methods for detecting mothers at risk of stress and depression need to be developed.