Improving maternal mental health: assessing the extent of screening and training about peripartum depression

Peripartum depression (PPD) is a common mental health complication of pregnancy and increases risk for maternal mortality and poorer outcomes for children. Despite its importance, screening rates vary across organizations and care team members. The goal of the current study was to explore the perspectives from care team members in both behavioral health and acute care settings about how they screen and refer pregnant and post pregnant women for PPD, what training around PPD is currently offered by their organization, and if they could benefit from additional PPD training.

Data were collected from an online self-report survey of care team members from behavioral health and acute care settings in the US. Questions focused on (1) when/if the care teams had a screening protocol for PPD, (2) beliefs about the efficacy of their organization's PPD screening, identification, and referral process, and (3) if their organization currently offered or needed training around the topic of PPD.

A total of 794 care team members in behavioral health and acute care responded to the survey between December 2021 and May 2022. Nearly, all (96.7%) reported having a specific protocol for screening for PPD when they know a patient is pregnant; however, only 69.6% of respondents routinely screen regardless of symptoms being reported by the patient. While 93.3% of the sample believed their organization does a good job screening for and identifying PPD, gaps in the referral processes were described, especially in acute settings. 95.3% of the sample reported their organization currently gives training in screening, identifying, or treating PPD or in the process for establishing outpatient referrals for PPD care for care team members who have direct contact with pregnant patients; however, 96.5% also reported their organization would benefit from additional training in one or more of these areas.

High rates of self-reported PPD screening and training indicate that care team members in both behavioral health and acute care are aware of the importance of maternal mental health issues. However, other research indicates that high rates of screening may not lead to improved outcomes, and there are still high rates of maternal suicide and suicidal ideation in the US. It is possible that high self-reported screening rates may indicate a false sense of security such that care team members feel the issue is addressed while problems remain. Alternatively, many respondents felt their organizations would benefit from further training, perhaps indicating an awareness of this gap. Care team members in behavioral health and acute care settings should increase collaboration to ensure high rates of screening lead to improved maternal mental health care.