The Role of Nurses in Perinatal Depression Screening and Intervention: An Exploratory Study

Background: Effective integration of perinatal mental health care into primary care settings faces several challenges. This exploratory cross-sectional study aims to survey nurses to understand their experience and skills in identifying perinatal depression. Materials and Methods: A total of 101 nurses in the Departments of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Neonatology of a General Hospital in Urban Bangalore were administered a survey to obtain information on their practice, experience, and skills and their perceived role in screening for perinatal mental health problems. Two focus group discussions were also conducted to elaborate on the findings of this survey. Results: Nearly one-third of the respondents (32.7%) indicated that they often came across women who appeared to need a mental health assessment, while 27.8% reported that they had directed these women to psychological services. In addition, over half of the nursing staff (58.4%) stated that they were familiar with tools used to screen for perinatal depression. The nurses were receptive to receiving education on mental health and considered it feasible and within their scope of work to identify perinatal depression. Gaps in knowledge about perinatal depression, lack of time, and stigma were identified as barriers to screening, and accessibility to patients and ease of communication due to proximity were identified as facilitators for screening in the focus group discussion. Conclusion: The nurses demonstrated awareness about perinatal depression and had high interest in undergoing further training and were confident of incorporating screening for depression along with routine perinatal care.