Depression evaluation in an attendance group for high-risk pregnant women

The goal of this study was to verify the variation of depression symptomatology in an informative high-risk post-partum group of pregnant (GAGER). Six high-risk pregnant women, from a University Hospital participated in this research, and they were evaluated four times: first, before forming the group; second, after two participations in this group; third, 24 to 36 hours after partum; and, four weeks post-partum. The instruments used were a Psychological Clinic Interview and, the Edinburgh Post-partum Depression Scale. Results showed that only between the first and second measure was observed significant statistic differences and approximately half of women that had depression during pregnancy maintained this symptomatology after pregnancy. Methodological limitations, hypothesis about non-modification in depressive symptomatology during the attendance and explanations about depression and pregnant and puerperal periods are discussed. Keywords: depression; pregnancy; post-partum.