Beyond babyblues: Detecting and managing perinatal mental health disorders in primary care

This activity is based on the beyondblue (2011) Clinical Practice Guidelines for Depression and related Disorders of Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder and Puerperal Psychosis in the Perinatal Period and provides an evidence based approach to treatment and management of women with mental health disorders in the perinatal period.

By completing this learning activity, participants will be able to:

• Discuss the range of mental health difficulties that can occur during pregnancy and in the first year postpartum and be able to state the symptoms of antenatal and postnatal depression and anxiety.
• Describe the psychosocial and/or mental health assessments available (and the roles of various professionals in relation to their use) and conduct universal screening of women in the perinatal period for the presence of anxiety and/or depression using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) in the context of a wider psychosocial assessment.
• Recall, based on EPDS results and the presence of psychosocial risk factors, the circumstances in which further mental health assessment of perinatal woman is indicated.
• State the various therapeutic modalities available for the management of perinatal anxiety and depression.
• Discuss how to ensure patient safety by developing appropriate referral pathways and being aware of the indications for referral for specialist services.

Completion of this GP MHST enables GPs to access to the MHST higher rebate. Click here for more information.

Any GP who is not registered with the RACGP or ACRRM and has successfully completed all components of the accredited MHST, can apply to the GPMHSC for individual recognition of learning.

You should contact the GPMHSC on (03) 8699 0554, or email to discuss this further.

This activity contains a number of exercises, and it is important that you link to and read the accompanying notes to get the most from this education.

The term Maternal Child Health Nurse (MCHN) has been used throughout this Activity, however other terms may be used in different states and territories.

You will need the latest version of Flash to view the module - you can download the latest version here: http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

To order your copy of beyondblue (2011) Clinical Practice Guidelines for Depression and related Disorders of Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder and Puerperal Psychosis in the Perinatal Period, click here.

This education was prepared by Dr Claire Berman and Dr John Crimmins from content developed by Parent-Infant Research Institute (PIRI) and beyondblue.

There is a discussion forum for this activity and we encourage you to participate after you have completed the education.