You Are Not Alone: Addressing Perinatal Mood Disorders

To dispel the stigma surrounding mental health complications and provide compassionate care to promote healthy pregnancies, happy mothers, and safe children. Women are experiencing greater degrees of anxiety and depression, earlier in pregnancy, which results in more women developing mood and major depressive disorders. Perinatal mood disorders are an evolving blend of emotional and mental uncertainty affecting women during pregnancy and through the postpartum period. Early diagnosis and treatment can prevent a multitude of intrapartum complications from preterm labor to suicidal ideations. In response to changing patient needs, small adjustments in practice result in tremendous improvement in the wellness of mothers and infants. Conducting perinatal screening for mood disorders addresses this need. A collaboration between antepartum, labor and delivery, postpartum, social work, health information systems, and maternal outreach units resulted in the Perinatal Mood Disorders Program. Upon admission to the antepartum or labor and delivery unit, patients are asked questions from the chosen screening tool. A new Social Services Consult tab and screening questions with corresponding weighted answers are part of the admission assessment. Any score that reflects the potential for mood disorders automatically alerts the admitting registered nurse (RN) to enter a maternal child social services or physician consult through the electronic order entry system. Further evaluation and appropriate referrals are then provided. Hospital policies reflect nomenclature changes and incorporate new processes. After discussions with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which involved explaining the purpose of the program, the need for perinatal screening and educational materials, and the overall goal of the project, English and Spanish educational booklets were graciously provided each month at no charge. In addition, a Community Resource Guide to Mental Health was provided as a supplement for each patient. This supplement contains mental health providers, psychiatrists, psychologists, and support group/counseling resources in the region along with contact numbers. Trending data and reporting reflects the increase in number of consults and highlights the number of patients whose conditions would have remained unrecognized and undiagnosed. By addressing perinatal mood disorders, women are assessed, screened, and treated as needed to ensure the health of the mother an