Remarks

• All women during antenatal and postnatal care would benefit from psychosocial interventions such as psychoeducation37 to develop coping strategies, manage stress and build supportive networks, where feasible and with availability of resources. The Guideline Development Group agreed that psychosocial interventions to support maternal mental health are an important component of early childhood health and development (see Recommendation 41 in this guideline).
• Women with clinically significant symptoms or risk factors should be offered psychological interventions (e.g. cognitive behavioural therapy or interpersonal therapy).
• The provision of these interventions should be decided in a collaborative manner based on the woman’s preference and the care provider’s ability to deliver the intervention in terms of training, expertise and experience.
• Women at risk for postpartum depression and/or anxiety are women who either (i) have exhibited depressive symptoms but scored below the cut-off for depressive disorder on screening tests, (ii) had previous episodes of depression, or (iii) have social risk factors such as low income, intimate partner violence or being an adolescent.