NPR

To Prevent Pregnancy-Related Depression, At-Risk Women Advised To Get Counseling

An influential expert panel recommends pregnant women at risk of depression get referred to counseling to prevent the illness. But for many women and their doctors, it may be easier said than done.
New recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force call for doctors to identify patients at risk of depression during pregnancy or after childbirth and refer them to counseling.

Doctors can and should do more to prevent depression among pregnant women and new mothers by referring them to counseling. That's the recommendation of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an influential panel of clinicians and researchers that makes recommendations for patient care.

"We can prevent this devastating illness and it's about time that we did," says clinical psychologist and researcher Karina Davidson, who is a member of the task force and helped write the recommendations, released Tuesday in JAMA.

Depression during pregnancy and in

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