Seeing Through the Shadows: A Strategy to Improve Postpartum Depression Screening Practices

Background: The pilgrimage of this Doctor of Nursing Practice project was to bring postpartum depression (PPD) out of the shadows and into the light. A gap existed in a postpartum ambulatory setting with the screening, detection, and treatment of PPD. Objective: A quality improvement project with an evidence-based standard of care for PPD screening was implemented with every postpartum patient. Methods: The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale-10 (EPDS-10; Cox, et al., 1987) was used as a reliable and valid screening instrument to screen 46 postpartum women. Results: Screening for PPD increased from 10.9% to 95.8% after the implementation of the EPDS. Referral and treatment of PPD increased from 1.8% to 19.6%. Conclusion: This project established an evidence-based standard of care that can be implemented with every postpartum patient and brought nine women out of the shadows with the hope that they can find the light to recover from PPD. Implications for Nursing: Screening for PPD is recommended by experts and is a Healthy People 2030 goal (ACOG, 2018; USPSTF, 2018). Universal screening with a validated tool may lead to improved compliance with screening, detection, and treatment of PPD. The outcomes of this project inform and prepare clinicians for the predicted mandate of national screening for PPD.