Occupational Therapy in the prevention of Postpartum Depression

This paper presents research carried out at the Women's Health Integrated Coordination Centre in the municipality of Carmo, Rio de Janeiro. This programme is offered to puerperal women and shows why cases of post-natal depression have low reliability or are not always correctly treated. The paper also shows the results of a survey of women who have already experienced post-natal depression, their feelings, fears, anxieties and what they think about a programme of occupational therapeutic care from prenatal onwards. The structured results were obtained by applying a semi-structured instrument adapted from the Edinburgh Depression Scale (EPDS) to women who had already been diagnosed with post-natal depression, in a universe of 120 women treated at the Women's Health Integrated Coordination Centre. Occupational therapy has important resources for pregnant women who want to prevent post-natal depression, as well as for puerperal women who are already depressed.