Right support at the right time - test of new methods to measure risk of perinatal depression

Perinatal depression (PND), i.e. depression during pregnancy and after childbirth is a common and potentially fatal condition affecting up to 20 percent of childbearing women.

There are preventive interventions for PND, but despite knowledge of the biological and psychological stressors of pregnancy, effective methods to identify individuals at risk, are lacking.

This project aims to develop a risk assessment tool that identifies women at high risk of PND (work package 1; WP1) and who are in most need of treatment (WP2) to avoid long-term symptoms, and to move towards clinical application of this tool in regular health care (WP3).Based on preliminary data, noninvasive candidate neurophysiological measures will be tested in a new cohort of pregnant women, as predictors of new onset of PND, separately and in combination with clinical data (WP1) using advanced statistical modelling.

WP2 uses advanced models to identify factors that distinguish risk of long-term depressive symptoms.

WP3 will utilize focus groups with health care staff as well as with parents to move towards clinical application of precise risk assessment in the perinatal period.The results will improve the precision and timing of preventive interventions and treatment to the right individuals in good time, with the overall purpose of limiting individual suffering, neonatal risks, and societal costs.