Feasibility of training primary healthcare workers to identify antenatal depression

Identifying women with depressive symptoms is the first step to reducing the risk of the short-term and long-term consequences of antenatal depression. Task shifting by training primary healthcare workers may help to reduce the burden in low-resource settings. Twenty health workers in a primary healthcare center in urban Bengaluru were trained to screen and identify antenatal depression. The training had two components: knowledge-based, using the depression module in the Mental Health Gap Action Program; and skills-based hands-on training, using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Knowledge about antenatal depression in the health workers improved by three units after training (p < 0.001). Their perceived skills and self-efficacy also improved by one unit each (p = 0.032 and p = 0.036, respectively). Following the training, 25% of the pregnant women who underwent screening by health workers reported depressive symptoms, as compared to no positive screening before training. Training was found to improve the knowledge, perceived skills and self-efficacy of nurses, junior health assistants and Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), and was found to increase the screening rate of depression in an antenatal clinic in urban India. Incorporating screening for depressive symptoms into regular antenatal care is feasible in low-resource settings.