The psychological prenatal program as a prevention tool for postpartum depression

Abstract

Psychological prenatal program(PNP) is a new concept in perinatal care towards greater humanization in the gestational process, birth and parenting. Pioneer in Brasilia, the program aims to integrate pregnant women and family throughout the pregnancy and childbirth process through thematic meetings in psychotherapy groups with an emphasis on psychological preparation for parenthood and prevention of postpartum depression (PPD). The research objective was to evaluate the contribution of PNP to prevent PPD. Action-research methodology was chosen. The instruments used were: gestational profile, puerperal profile, sessions and materials produced in the PNP, Beck Depression Inventory, Edinburgh postnatal depression scale, evaluative questionnaire and completing phrases. The results were compared between five collaborating PNP participants (intervention group) and five non-participants (control group). It was found that the in intervention group the occurrence of risk factors overcame the protective factors and more than half of this group showed gestational depression, but didn’t developed the PPD . In the control group, two collaborators presented the PPD. These findings suggest that the PNP associated with protective factors present in the history of pregnant women can help prevent PPD. It is argued that psychological assistance during pregnancy, through the use of PNP, is an important psycoprophylactic tool that should be implemented as a public policy at primary health care, maternity services and prenatal care.