Postpartum Depression Ameliorated by Lay Health Professional Visits at Home

Postpartum depression intervention can be successfully delivered by lay professionals in an at-home setting, and produce a significant decline in stress and depression, according to recent study results published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

Researchers conducted a hybrid effectiveness-implementation Type 2 trial to evaluate methods of intervention for pregnant women receiving the Mothers and Babies (MB) 1-on-1, with attention to whether administration by lay home visitors induced greater improvement in “depressive symptoms and perceived stress” than traditional home visiting approaches.

The study included 1229 pregnant women, with 672 in the control group (receiving traditional home visits) and 557 in the intervention group (receiving MB at-home from lay professionals). Wellness assessments were conducted at baseline, 6-month, and 9-months post-training using the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI).

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Overall, mothers who received the MB intervention from lay home visitors exhibited an average BDI score that was 1.014 points lower than control at follow-up (P < .05). Further, those who completed all 12 sessions had 2.422 BDI points lower than those who completed no sessions at all.

Qualitative results from mothers who received the MB intervention included reports that they felt more socially supported, demonstrated improved mood regulation, engaged in more activities that they enjoyed, and were able to more easily reframe negative thoughts.

“Mothers and Babies 1-on-1 delivered by lay home visitors leads to reductions in perceived stress and depressive symptoms, suggesting task shifting to non-mental health professionals is viable when appropriate training and supervision is provided,” Shiv Darius Tandon, PhD, director, Institute for Publish Health and Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, and coauthors concluded.

References

Nye J. Home visit intervention delivered by lay person improves postpartum depressive symptoms. Psychiatry Advisor. Published online August 11, 2022. Accessed Sept 1, 2022.

Tandon SD, McGown M, Campbell L, et al. Results from an effectiveness-implementation evaluation of a postpartum depression prevention intervention delivered in home visiting programs. J Affect Disord. Published online July 22, 2022. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.07.033