Interventions to address postpartum depression in South Asian countries: a scoping review

Postpartum depression (PPD) can result in poor health outcomes in mothers, affect maternal-child bonding and have long-term effects on child development.

The aim of this review was to identify existing studies on PPD and characterise any gaps in literature.

We conducted a scoping review of 14 databases using a combination of search terms and phrases related to PPD and the respective Southern Asian countries. We applied the criteria from the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews to identify relevant articles from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka published between January 2004 and September 2024.

We identified 20 studies conducted in only four of the South Asian countries: Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nepal. Fifteen were studies with clear post-intervention outcomes; five had process outcomes. Intervention studies used trained community health workers in a variety of psychosocial programs, many with culturally specific content, including adoption of language and integration of local activities. Among the 15 intervention studies, six had positive maternal mental health outcomes and three had positive pediatric-related findings.

The 20 articles identified address the important problem of PPD in South Asia. The positive findings in both the large randomised control trials and small pilot studies identified in this article, combined with the studies' use of the resource of community health workers, suggest that the gap in the literature is less on identifying effective interventions and more on securing the political and policy resolution to address the problem of PPD.