Improving Maternal Depression Screening and Treatment for Pregnant Women

From introduction:

Although depression is highly treatable, especially in early stages, only half of women are screened for maternal depression, and only a minority receive treatment. Untreated depression puts women and children at risk, as pregnant women with depression are 3.4 times more likely than baseline women to deliver preterm, and children of depressed mothers also demonstrate high lifetime medical spending, because maternal depression can impact child development. Maternal depression disproportionately impacts low-income women, as evidenced by their overrepresentation among women suffering from depression overall.

Source: Policy Briefs, UCLA Center for the Study of Women, UCLA [via eScholarship Repository]

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