Other Titles
Antenatal Mental Health Screenings in the Southern United States: A Best Practice Implementation Project [Title Slide]
Abstract
Antenatal depression, also known as prenatal or perinatal depression, is a type of clinical depression that can affect women during pregnancy. It is estimated that approximately 10-20% of pregnant women experience antenatal depression (Antenatal Maternal Health, n.d.). Antenatal depression has been linked to higher rates of postpartum depression. Additionally, antenatal depression has been associated with a reduced gestational age at the time of delivery, a lower APGAR score at 1 and 5 min, and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. APGAR scoring is used to assess a newborn’s health immediately following birth.
Providers at a women’s services clinic in the southern United States (U.S.) recently became aware that their current clinical practices did not include antenatal mental health screenings. Therefore, an evidence-based implementation project was planned to determine current adherence to EBP regarding antenatal mental health screenings.
The best practice recommendations include:
All health professionals providing care to pregnant women should receive training in women-centered communication, psychosocial assessment, and provision of culturally safe care. Depression and anxiety symptoms are assessed for all women at initial contact. If using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), further assessment is arranged for women scoring ≥ 13.
If using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EDPS), repeat assessment is conducted two to four weeks after the initial assessment in women scoring between 10 and 12. Psychosocial risk factors are assessed using the Antenatal Risk Questionnaire-Revised (ANRQ-R). All pregnant women are asked, when they are alone, about their exposure to family violence. Women are asked about their general health and well-being at each antenatal appointment. Women are given the opportunity to discuss any concerns they have at each antenatal appointment.
The outcomes data from an initial survey and EMR review will be used to develop strategies to address gaps in best practices. Barriers to practice will be explored, and strategies will be identified to mitigate the barriers. It is impossible to know what gaps will be identified in the initial data, so specific interventions cannot be reported beforehand. Any strategies will incorporate the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) standards and the best practices identified in the JBI evidence summary (Whitehorn, 2022).
Notes
References:
Antenatal mental health. Centre of Perinatal Excellence. (n.d.). [cited 2024 06 18]. Available from: https://www.cope.org.au/expecting-a-baby/mental-health-conditions-pregnancy/antenatal-depression/
Whitehorn A. Antenatal: Mental Health Screening. (2022). The JBI EBP Database. JBI-ES-613-2.
Sigma Membership
Theta Beta
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Translational Research/Evidence-based Practice
Keywords:
Health Equity, Social Determinants of Health, Stress and Coping
Recommended Citation
Tullos, Stephanie, "Antenatal Mental Health Screenings: A Best Practice Implementation Project" (2025). Biennial Convention (CONV). 14.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/convention/2025/presentations_2025/14
Conference Name
48th Biennial Convention
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2025-11-17
Antenatal Mental Health Screenings: A Best Practice Implementation Project
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Antenatal depression, also known as prenatal or perinatal depression, is a type of clinical depression that can affect women during pregnancy. It is estimated that approximately 10-20% of pregnant women experience antenatal depression (Antenatal Maternal Health, n.d.). Antenatal depression has been linked to higher rates of postpartum depression. Additionally, antenatal depression has been associated with a reduced gestational age at the time of delivery, a lower APGAR score at 1 and 5 min, and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. APGAR scoring is used to assess a newborn’s health immediately following birth.
Providers at a women’s services clinic in the southern United States (U.S.) recently became aware that their current clinical practices did not include antenatal mental health screenings. Therefore, an evidence-based implementation project was planned to determine current adherence to EBP regarding antenatal mental health screenings.
The best practice recommendations include:
All health professionals providing care to pregnant women should receive training in women-centered communication, psychosocial assessment, and provision of culturally safe care. Depression and anxiety symptoms are assessed for all women at initial contact. If using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), further assessment is arranged for women scoring ≥ 13.
If using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EDPS), repeat assessment is conducted two to four weeks after the initial assessment in women scoring between 10 and 12. Psychosocial risk factors are assessed using the Antenatal Risk Questionnaire-Revised (ANRQ-R). All pregnant women are asked, when they are alone, about their exposure to family violence. Women are asked about their general health and well-being at each antenatal appointment. Women are given the opportunity to discuss any concerns they have at each antenatal appointment.
The outcomes data from an initial survey and EMR review will be used to develop strategies to address gaps in best practices. Barriers to practice will be explored, and strategies will be identified to mitigate the barriers. It is impossible to know what gaps will be identified in the initial data, so specific interventions cannot be reported beforehand. Any strategies will incorporate the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) standards and the best practices identified in the JBI evidence summary (Whitehorn, 2022).
Description
Antenatal depression has been linked to higher rates of postpartum depression. Depression during pregnancy has negative impact on not only a mother, but her fetus, and family unit. An evidence based implementation project was designed to determine if current practices met antenatal mental health screening best practice guidelines established by the Joanna Briggs Institute in order to identify and treat women identified with antenatal depression in order to decrease the long term impact.