This checklist is not intendedto be used to diagnose antenatal or postnatal depression.Instead, we hope that it will help you express the way you have been feeling over the past two weeks.
Some of the symptoms and feelings will be hard to admit, but we urge you to be honest, because this will make it easier for you to get the help you and your baby deserve.Remember that all new mothers feel this way some of the time.Such feelings are part of the adjustment to motherhood.But when mothers feel bad often, or most of the time, we believe that it is important that you get help from a health professional urgently.
TRY NOT TO FEEL GUILTY –YOU ARE NOT TO BLAME
AT LEAST ONE IN TEN NEW MOTHERS DO HAVE CLINICAL DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY DURING PREGNANCY AND IN THE FIRST YEAR AFTER THE BIRTH OF A BABY
When you have completed the checklist, please add up your score, and look at how to interpret it. Please note the bulleted symptoms and feelings and the comment about them at the end.
Good luck.Please contact us if you need further information and help.
To complete the Checklist, please fill in the appropriate column- i.e. the one that comes closest to the way you have been feeling and thinking during the past two weeks.
0 = NOT AT ALL
1 = FROM TIME TO TIME
2 = QUITE OFTEN
3 = MOST OF THE TIME
Symptoms and Feelings
0
1
2
3
Appetite change
Being forgetful
Being indecisive
Confused thinking
Crying spells
Fears or fantasies of harming yourself or others
Fears or fantasies of harming baby
Feeling afraid
Feeling angry
Feeling anxious
Feeling depressed
Feeling fatigued
Feeling frustrated
Feeling guilty
Feeling hopeless
Feeling irritable
Feeling like a bad mother
Feeling lonely
Feeling no love for the baby
Feeling numb
Feeling out of control
Feeling panicky
Feeling that your baby would be better off without you
Feeling trapped
Feeling unsupported – that no-one cares about you
Having scary thoughts
Insomnia/changes
in your sleep patterns
Loss of concentration
Loss of interest in your appearance
Loss of libido – no interest in sex
Loss of motivation
Loss of self-esteem
Mood swings
Obsessive thinking – weird thoughts keep going round in your head
Panic attacks
Pre-occupation with death –often thinking about death and dying
Suicidal thinking – thinking of killing yourself
Unusualconflict and fights with people close to you
Unusual physical symptoms- headaches, irregular heartbeat, nausea, “knot in your stomach” etc.
Unusual weight gain or loss
Other
SCORE (write total score here) []
CONTACT
A HEALTH PROFESSIONAL IMMEDIATELY IF YOU HAVE ANY OF THEABOVE
SYMPTOMS THAT ARE HIGHLIGHTED IN RED.
GUIDELINES TO THEINTERPRETATION OF YOUR TOTAL SCORE
Less than 40
=MILD adjustment difficulties;
41-69
=MODERATE-SEVERE Depression and Anxiety
70+
=SEVEREDEPRESSION AND ANXIETY
I
AM
[] WEEKS PREGNANT
[] AGE OF BABY NOW
[] TOTAL SCORE
If you score above 40, we recommend that you print this form and take it to your health professional immediately.
Please note: The CHECKLIST is intended to indicate and articulate the most common symptoms and feelings of Depression & Anxiety in pregnancy and during the first year after a baby. It is not an established diagnostic instrument.
