Personalizing treatment plans for mothers and fathers with postnatal depression

Postnatal depression (PND) is a mood disorder that affects approximately 15 in 100 women who have given birth over the past year (1). PND also affects new fathers, with new evidence suggesting that up to 4% can report moderate depressive symptoms (2). PDN is associated with poor mental and physical health, reduced quality of life and suicidal thinking (3). There also are negative consequences related with the infant’s development and may include cognitive, emotional, behavioural, social, motor, and language difficulties. Identifying the right treatment which will be tailored to the individual’s needs is very important because the relationships between parents and their infants can be disrupted to the point that the infant’s development is compromised even after these symptoms have ended (4). Recognising the urgency of supporting both mothers and fathers with PND, we aim to develop a prognostic tool to determine which patient groups can benefit more for which treatments. In this way, we will provide individualised treatment plans in a timely manner which also are associated with reduced costs.

References

1. Woody, C. A., Ferrari, A. J., Siskind, D. J., Whiteford, H. A., & Harris, M. G. (2017). A systematic review and meta-regression of the prevalence and incidence of perinatal depression. Journal of affective disorders, 219, 86–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.05.003

2. Psouni, E., Agebjörn, J., & Linder, H. (2017). Symptoms of depression in Swedish fathers in the postnatal period and development of a screening tool. Scandinavian journal of psychology, 58(6), 485–496. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.12396

3. Slomian, J., Honvo, G., Emonts, P., Reginster, J. Y., & Bruyère, O. (2019). Consequences of maternal postpartum depression: A systematic review of maternal and infant outcomes. Women’s health (London, England), 15, 1745506519844044. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745506519844044

4. Stein, A., Pearson, R. M., Goodman, S. H., Rapa, E., Rahman, A., McCallum, M., Howard, L. M., & Pariante, C. M. (2014). Effects of perinatal mental disorders on the fetus and child. Lancet (London, England), 384(9956), 1800–1819. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61277-0