COLLABORATIVE CARE FOR PERINATAL DEPRESSION IN SOCIOECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED WOMEN: A RANDOMIZED TRIAL

Area of Science:

• Perinatal mental health
• Public health interventions
• Collaborative care models

Background:

• Perinatal depression poses risks to maternal and child well-being.
• Socioeconomically disadvantaged women face barriers to accessing evidence-based depression care.
• MOMCare is a culturally relevant intervention offering psychotherapy and/or antidepressants.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the MOMCare intervention.
• To compare MOMCare to Maternity Support Services Plus (MSS-Plus).
• To assess improvements in quality of care and depressive outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Randomized multisite controlled trial with blinded outcome assessment.
• Recruited pregnant women with probable major depression or dysthymia.
• Assessed depression severity, functional improvement, PTSD, and quality of care over 18 months postbaseline.

Main Results:

• MOMCare participants showed significantly lower depression and PTSD severity.
• Higher rates of depression remission were observed in the MOMCare group.
• MOMCare led to increased mental health visits and antidepressant adherence.

Conclusions:

• MOMCare significantly improved quality of care, depression severity, and remission rates.
• The intervention proved effective for socioeconomically disadvantaged women.
• Evidence-based perinatal depression care can be integrated into public health systems.