Effectiveness of a discharge education program in reducing the severity of postpartum depression

Interventions for common perinatal mental disorders in women in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…1). [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] China contributed three trials; India, Pakistan and South Africa contributed two trials each, and Chile, Jamaica, Mexico and Uganda contributed one each. Twelve studies were controlled and randomized either at the individual or the cluster level and one study 28 used a historical matched control from another epidemiological study.…”

“…Two studies in China 29,33 and one in Mexico 31 addressed adjustment to motherhood through programmes integrated into existing hospital-based antenatal education or postpartum health care. These studies also took a psycho-educational approach, with structured content provided in a psychologically supportive context.…”

“…Gao et al's programme 29 was derived from interpersonal therapy and used learning activities and the social support of a group process to promote a problem-solving approach, including ways to manage interpersonal conflict in intimate relationships. Ho et al 33 and Lara et al 31 provided information about the symptoms and causes of postpartum depression in an information booklet and supplemented this with either supportive discussion with a primary care nurse to encourage early help-seeking behaviour, 33 or participation in a series of group discussions facilitated by professionals. 31 Five studies 22,24,26,28,35 did not address maternal mental health directly.…”

“…Chile, China and Mexico were the only countries where the interventions were implemented by mental health professionals. 23,29,31,33 In all other studies they were implemented by local trained community health workers under professional supervision. In seven interventions involving individual home visits, 22,[24][25][26][27][28]35 the therapeutic relationship between the health worker and the study participant was regarded as an important determinant of improvements in mental health.…”

“…29,33 In these interventions, mental health was assessed by means of symptom checklists rather than diagnoses or psychiatric assessment. Although all participants in the THP met the diagnostic criteria for depression, the intervention was positioned as a maternal and child health promotion strategy in which the use of psychopathological labelling was likely to have increased stigma and reduced compliance.…”