Screening for Perinatal Depression

Screening for perinatal depression is now widely undertaken in the UK and Europe and is attracting increasing attention. This much-needed text provides guidance for health care professionals on the issues and controversies surrounding screening and on good practice in the use of screening tests. An international author team with backgrounds in psychiatry, psychology, medicine and nursing has been brought together to discuss the available screening methods, their advantages and drawbacks. The authors investigate women’s perceptions of the accessibility and usefulness of screening and of the roles of professionals (e.g. primary care staff and health visitors), and also look at ethnic minority women’s experiences of health services. The role of the UK National Screening Committee is explored, along with the problems faced when implementing screening programmes in developing countries. This comprehensive and practical book will enable mental health professionals, social workers and health visitors to provide sensitive and informed services to women at risk of perinatal depression.

Author Biography

Carol Henshaw is Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry at the University of Keele, UK, and is a consultant psychiatrist at the Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust. She is president of the Marcé society, a scientific society devoted to mental illness related to childbearing and has published numerous articles on perinatal depression. Sandra Elliott is Consultant Clinical Psychologist and team leader of the Maternity and Perinatal Partnership in Mental Health at St Thomas’ Hospital, London, and is Honorary Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry.