Perinatal Depression: Concerns with the Canadian Task Force Guidelines

The Task Force guideline published in 2022 recommends against the global gold standard screening tool for depression during and after pregnancy.

Canada is going against the recommendations of essentially all other countries with guidelines for perinatal depression — including the U.S., U.K., and Australia. This is hugely important because suicide is a leading cause of maternal deaths. Screening for depression and helping make connections to community supports should be a priority to prevent maternal suicide, and to reduce serious mother and child harms that result from untreated depression. In June 2023, the US Task Force recommended depression screening of adults, including pregnant and postpartum women.

“Guidelines developed by non-specialists and that are based solely on clinical trial data may oversimplify treatment and ignore clinical scenarios that require comprehensive judgment in addition to data, and may be harmful to patients.” — Canadian Psychiatric Association, letter from Dr. Wei-Yi Song, Past-President of Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA)

“We disagree with the Task Force conclusion that the evidence in support of instrument -based screening for perinatal depression is very uncertain. Our position aligns with the conclusions of the US Preventive Services Task Force and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) that there is evidence in favour of screening for depression in the perinatal period.” — statement from the B.C. Reproductive Mental Health Program and Perinatal Services B.C.
“We collectively disagree with the recommendation against standardized screening for perinatal depression…This recommendation will lead to less detection and treatment of perinatal depression with negative lifelong effects on women, their children’s health and development, and families.” — Excerpt from Letter to Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, December 15, 2023

Expert Recommended Guidelines

For BC Expert-Recommended Guidelines, please click here.

For Alberta Expert-Recommended Guidelines, please click here.

 

Expert Statements

Catriona Hippman, PhD, CGC, CIHR & MSFHR Fellow
University of Calgary Killam & Eyes High Fellow, Faculty of Nursing;
University of British Columbia Department of OBGYN;
BC Children’s & Women’s Hospitals (PHSA), Reproductive Mental Health

 

Nicole Letourneau PhD RN FCAHS FAAN FCAN FRSC
University of Calgary Research Excellence Chair, Parent and Child Health Director, RESOLVE Alberta
Scientific Director, AVA CIHR National Health Research Training Centre & Women’s and Girls’ Health Hub
Principal Investigator, CHILD, APrON, VID-KIDS, & ATTACH
Academic Co-Lead, Institutes for Transdisciplinary Scholarship – Health and Life Focus
Assistant Dean, Mentorship for Research and Grant Success, Faculty of Nursing

Patient Statements

Krystin Buffam, RNBN, Mental Health Advocate