Prenatal Depression Screening in African American Women to Initiate Early Referral and Treatment

Aim: In the United States, prenatal depression is an underdiagnosed mental health disorder that can result in complications for the mother and fetus. Approximately 7 to 12 % women are affected by prenatal depression (Sidebottom et al., 2021). African American women experience more stressors during the prenatal period which places them at a higher risk for depression than other racial groups (Liu et al., 2016). Early screening can help identify and treat prenatal depression which may reduce the risk of postpartum depression. The purpose of this quality improvement project (QI) was to screen African American pregnant women, using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), to determine if screening for depression prenatally can initiate early treatment and referral.
Method: All pregnant women who received prenatal care at a women’s health clinic were screened, using the EPDS, for depression prenatally. Relationships and differences between mother’s demographic variables and their EPDS scores were explored using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). A one-time follow-up telephone interview was conducted, for education and support, 3-4 weeks post completion of the EPDS.