A non-randomized controlled trial for reducing postpartum depression in low-income minority women at community-based women’s health clinics

Objective To analyze an intervention that delivered tailored clinic staff training on postpartum depression (PPD) followed by awareness raising and social support aimed at lowering PPD among low-income Bedouin women in southern Israel. Methods We conducted a non-randomized controlled trial at two women’s health clinics. The study included 332 of the 384 eligible women recruited at baseline (intervention = 169, control= 163), who completed two face-to-face interviews, one at 26–38 weeks of pregnancy (Time 1) and one 2–4 months postpartum (Time 2). PPD was measured by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and dichotomized using a ≥ 10 score cutoff. We calculated EPDS change (rate difference of dichotomous EPDS from Time 1 to Time 2) (no change, positive change, or negative change), and compared EPDS changes in a control clinic vs. an intervention clinic. Results The intervention group showed a greater decrease in dichotomous EPDS ≥ 10 between times 1 and 2 (38.5% to 17.2%) than the control group (31.9% to 29.4%, PV = 0.008). Multinomial logistic regression showed that high PPD awareness significantly contributed to positive EPDS change in the intervention group (PV = 0.003) and high social support significantly protected against negative EPDS change in both groups, intervention (PV = 0.001) and control (PV= 0.003). Conclusions In low-income women, an intervention focusing on increasing PPD awareness and social support following staff training was associated with reduced EPDS and positive EPDS change following the intervention. Similar interventions should be implemented in women’s clinics during pregnancy.