Degree Name

Nursing Practice, DNP

Publication Date

8-4-2023

Upload Date

2024

First Advisor

Debra Schulte

Abstract

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a prevalent mental health disorder that negatively impacts maternal behavior and infant development. Despite a global incidence of around 12% (Ti & Curtis, 2019), current screening practices are inadequate. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG, 2018) recommends universal screening using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at least once during pregnancy. However, the project site in an obstetrical clinic currently does not screen during pregnancy. This quantitative quality improvement project in a Memphis, TN, obstetrical clinic used systematic data collection of EPDS scores of pregnant women and analysis to investigate the effectiveness of implementing EPDS during the prenatal period. The project followed the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) model to implement practice changes and education for all staff. To collect the necessary data, the EPDS was administered to participants during the prenatal period preceding all prenatal appointments during a four-week period. The average EPDS score was M = 7.4 (SD = 6.64), with 14 participants (31%) scoring ten or greater, indicating possible depression. These findings demonstrate the importance of implementing prenatal screening for depression and its potential impact on identifying at-risk individuals.

Rights Management

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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