[Impact of postpartum depression on care use and work]

To describe the care which women with postpartum depression (PPD) in the Netherlands use for their complaints, and the impact of PPD on their general use of care for themselves and for their child, and on their participation in work.

The data came from the control group of a prospective comparative study on the effectiveness of screening for PPD within the setting of Youth Health Care.

We obtained data by means of two online questionnaires. Three weeks postpartum, we examined the background characteristics of the mother. Twelve months postpartum, we inquired about depression since birth, care use for depressive symptoms, general care use since birth for both mother and child, and participation in work up to 12 months postpartum. To test differences, we used chi-square and student t-tests.

Of the 1049 participating women, 99 (9.4%) indicated that they had experienced depression in the year since giving birth. Of the 99 'women with PPD', 71.0% made at least some use of care aimed at their PPD complaints. Of these women with PPD, 31.3% were diagnosed with depression, and 37.7% were actually treated. Mothers with PPD used considerably more care for themselves and their child than mothers without PPD. Absenteeism from work was significantly higher among women with PPD.

The limited number of women with PPDreceiving care by and the social costs entailed by PPD justify investment in routine screening and customized care pathways for these women.