N.J. starts screening for postpartum depression

She told her husband, but he was unfamiliar with postpartum depression and insisted Ashby could shake off the malaise on her own. After six weeks, she told her doctor, and eventually started taking drugs which rapidly restored her sense of joy.

Though she praised her doctor, Ashby said physicians should be more proactive generally in informing and questioning new mothers and their husbands about depression.

New Jersey's program stresses a proactive approach. Over the past nine months, the Health Department has trained more than 4,500 doctors, nurses, psychologists and social workers to provide screening, referrals and treatment for postpartum depression.

Celeste Andriot Wood, assistant commissioner for family health services, said the department isn't mandating a particular screening method. Its recommendations include the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, which asks 10 simple questions about emotions.

New Jersey has roughly 115,000 births a year, and Wood estimated that 10 percent of the new mothers will require intervention after positive screening for postpartum depression. Even if that increases referrals by 50 percent, the state has sufficient resources to cope, she said.

Dr. Paul Stumpf, head of the New Jersey branch of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said most of his colleagues already sought to identify patients with depression, but he praised the new legislation.

"It's a matter of increasing the visibility of the problem, keeping it on the front burner," he said.

The measure succeeded partly because of strong support last year from then-Gov. Richard Codey and his wife, who had postpartum depression.

Nationally, the disorder has been chronicled in memoirs by former sufferers, such as actress Brooke Shields' "Down Came the Rain." The book prompted actor Tom Cruise to publicly criticize Shields for taking antidepressants.

New Jersey's initiative, based on recommendations from health professionals, contends that medication, counseling and support groups all can be effective.

Dr. Ralph Wittenberg, medical director of the Family Mental Health Institute, said drugs and psychotherapy each work in about two-thirds of postpartum depression cases. Used together, the success rate can exceed 90 percent, he said.

MORE FROM WOMEN'S HEALTH

Women's health Section Front

Many high-risk women reject breast MRIs NYT: Building a baby, with few ground rules NYT: Menopause, as brought to you by drug makers Study finds benefits of soy after breast cancer Breastfeeding may curb heart, diabetes risk More women choose do-it-yourself births Are you having an affair ... with your baby? Show your bod some thanks, inside and out NYT: Health bill revives abortion groups New guidelines: Pap smears can start at 21 Women's health Section Front   Add Women's health headlines to your news reader: