Postpartum Depression
Course #76364 -
- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
Postpartum depression is a devastating illness that begins in or extends into the postpartum period. This serious health problem affects 10% to 20% of childbearing women worldwide irrespective of culture. Postpartum depression is often undetected by healthcare providers, which should be of great concern as its consequences have serious implications for the welfare of the mother and her family and the psychological development of the child. Considered to be the result of a combination of biochemical, hormonal, genetic, environmental, and psychosocial factors, the complications of this form of depression can have profound negative impact on the mother's ability to bond with the infant and to sufficiently provide routine care for the infant. A more rare form of postnatal disorder is postpartum psychosis, which, if not treated immediately when it is detected, can have deadly consequences for both mother and infant. Early detection and a sound clinical assessment by knowledgeable healthcare professionals are essential to treat the mother's depression and to prevent complications that can endanger the mother-infant relationship and the child's normal development.
- INTRODUCTION
- CATEGORIES OF POSTPARTUM MOOD DISORDERS
- HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
- CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
- RISK FACTORS
- ETIOLOGY
- TYPES AND SEVERITY OF POSTPARTUM DISORDERS
- ASSESSMENT FOR POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION
- COMPLICATIONS OF POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION
- IMPACT ON SOCIOEMOTIONAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
- STRATEGIES FOR RECOVERY
- TREATMENT STRATEGIES
- PREVENTIVE STRATEGIES
- CONCLUSION
- GLOSSARY
- RESOURCES
- APPENDIX
- Works Cited
- Evidence-Based Practice Recommendations Citations
This course is designed for social workers, counselors, therapists, and allied professionals who work directly with women, pregnant patients, new mothers, and infants.
NetCE has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6361. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. NetCE is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. As a Jointly Accredited Organization, NetCE is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs. This course, Postpartum Depression, Approval #07012022-35, provided by NetCE is approved for continuing education by the New Jersey Social Work Continuing Education Approval Collaborative, which is administered by NASW-NJ. CE Approval Collaborative Approval Period: Friday, July 15, 2022 through August 31, 2024. New Jersey social workers will receive 15 Clinical CE credits for participating in this course.
NetCE designates this continuing education activity for 5 NBCC clock hour(s). Social workers participating in this intermediate to advanced course will receive 15 Clinical continuing education clock hours. NetCE designates this continuing education activity for 15 credit(s).
In addition to states that accept ASWB, NetCE is approved as a provider of continuing education by the following state boards: Alabama State Board of Social Work Examiners, Provider #0515; Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling, CE Broker Provider #50-2405; Illinois Division of Professional Regulation for Social Workers, License #159.001094; Illinois Division of Professional Regulation for Licensed Professional and Clinical Counselors, License #197.000185; Illinois Division of Professional Regulation for Marriage and Family Therapists, License #168.000190;
This course has been approved by NetCE, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits, NAADAC Provider #97847. NetCE is responsible for all aspects of their programming. NetCE is approved as a provider of continuing education by the California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals. Provider Number 5-08-151-0624. NetCE is approved as a provider of continuing education by the California Association of DUI Treatment Programs (CADTP). Provider Number 185. NetCE is approved as a provider of continuing education by the California Association for Alcohol/Drug Educators. Provider Number CP40 889 H 0626. NetCE designates this continuing education activity for 15 continuing education hours for addiction professionals.
The purpose of this course is to allow mental and behavioral health professionals to detect postpartum depression using screening tools and a clinical assessment to intervene early and prevent the devastating consequences of the disorder.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Discuss the prevalence of postpartum depression (PPD), including historical and transcultural perspectives.
- Identify risk factors for PPD evident prior to pregnancy, during pregnancy, and after birth.
- Review the effects of biochemistry, such as serotonin, estrogen and progesterone, cortisol, and thyroid, on the development of PPD.
- Describe the role of family history, stressful life events, and psychosocial factors in the etiology of depression.
- List the emotional, physical, and cognitive symptoms of postpartum blues.
- Discuss emotional, physical, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms of PPD.
- Identify severe forms of postpartum disorders, focusing on postpartum psychosis and cases of infanticide.
- Review the clinical assessment of PPD, including the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Postpartum Depression Screening Scale (PDSS).
- List the effects of PPD on maternal bonding, mother-infant attachment, and a child's socioemotional and cognitive development.
- Describe the potential long-term effects of PPD on children.
- List maternal and familial complications of PPD, including marital conflict, suicide, and homicide.
- Discuss self-care strategies for recovery, such as nourishment, sleep, rest and relaxation, exercise, and socializing.
- Review the role of education in the diagnosis of and recovery from PPD.
- Discuss the physiologic treatment of PPD with postpartum hormone treatments.
- Specify pharmacologic treatment strategies, noting benefits, adverse reactions, and risks.
- Discuss psychosocial interventions used in the treatment of PPD.
- List strategies for preventing PPD, including screening, postpartum debriefing, companionship in the delivery room, psychotherapy, midwife continuity of care, and progesterone preventive treatment.
Anele Runyion, RN, MS, received her diploma in nursing from Berea College School of Nursing in Berea, Kentucky. She subsequently received a Baccalaureate and Master’s degree in psychiatric nursing from the University of California, San Francisco. She has extensive experience in psychiatric nursing, including adolescent and adult psychiatry.
For twenty years she was psychiatric nurse consultant and coordinator of psychiatric nursing consultation at San Francisco General Hospital. She was Assistant Clinical Professor in Mental Health, Community and Administrative Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco. She created and co-chaired a National Psychiatric Consultation/Liaison Conference in 1987, which provided continuing education in nursing. This conference meets annually and has subsequently become an international conference.
She created a brief curriculum and practicum in consultation/liaison nursing for graduate nursing students at UCSF that is currently being practiced. As a psychiatric nurse consultant, she assisted non-psychiatric nurses in the hospital to assimilate and integrate psychological principles into their practice. During this time, she developed a protocol for management of acute post-traumatic stress response. This protocol was adopted by the hospital as a standard care plan for nursing management of patients with acute post-traumatic stress response in the non-psychiatric areas of the hospital.
Ms. Runyion has published and spoken nationally. She was listed in Who’s Who in American Nursing in 1991-92 and 1996-97. Currently, she is a self-employed consultant and writer.
Contributing faculty, Anele Runyion, RN, MS, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Alice Yick Flanagan, PhD, MSW
Margaret Donohue, PhD
The division planners have disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distributing or providing access to this activity to learners.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.