Background: Mothers commonly present their newborn infants to chiropractors for examination and treatment. As it is known that postpartum depression is common in new mothers, we chose this population to conduct a survey. The goal of this survey was to determine the prevalence of post-partum depression in mothers who presented their child for care in a United Kingdom (UK) university teaching chiropractic clinic.
Methods: The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was handed to each mother as they entered the clinic between December 2006
and December 2007. Participation was voluntary and all English-speaking mothers chose to participate.
Results: A total of 344 mothers completed the survey. Of these, 17.2% (N=50) scored 13 or above indicating probable presence of postnatal depression and 32% (N=110) scored 10 or above indicating possible presence of postnatal depression.
Conclusion: Possible and probable postnatal depression were more commonly reported in new mothers presenting their baby for chiropractic care then the reported global pooled prevalence. Implementing these surveys into all chiropractic offices may help to uncover under-reporting and under-diagnosis in this population. Appropriate education and referral pathways for this common problem are encouraged.
Author keywords: postpartum depression, perinatal depression, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, chiropractic, pediatric.
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