Postpartum Depression Underidentified, Undertreated

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/781167


One in 7 Women Positive for Recurrent Episodes of Major Depression
Deborah Brauser
Mar 21, 2013

Postpartum depression is increasingly common, new research suggests.

In a study of 10,000 women who had recently given birth, 14% — or roughly 1 in 7 — screened positive for recurrent episodes of major depression. And of these, more than 19% reported having considered harming themselves.

"The rate of postpartum depression was not surprising and [was] consistent with other estimates that have been developed from smaller samples of patients," lead author Katherine L. Wisner, MD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and of obstetrics and gynecology, and director of the Asher Center for the Study and Treatment of Depressive Disorders at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, told Medscape Medical News.

The largest-scale depression screening of postpartum women, the study marks the first time a full psychiatric assessment was done in this patient population.

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