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Routine vs. Early Postpartum Depression Screening: A Pragmatic Clinical Trial

NCT07460063 · Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 428

Last updated 2026-05-07

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

After having a baby, some women develop a condition called postpartum depression, or PPD, which can cause sadness, anxiety, and difficulty bonding with their newborn. Right now, most women aren't screened for PPD until about 6 to 8 weeks after giving birth, but this study wants to find out if checking earlier could help identify signs sooner. To test this, researchers will work with 428 women who deliver at an MGH hospital clinic and have no history of depression. Each woman will be randomly placed into one of two groups: one group will fill out a short depression questionnaire online at 2 to 3 weeks after delivery, while the other group will follow the usual process and complete the same questionnaire at their regular 6-week visit. The results will go to each woman's doctor, who will decide if any follow-up care is needed, just like they normally would. The study will follow each participant for 6 months after delivery to see whether earlier screening makes a difference.

Conditions

  • Postpartum Depression (PPD)

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Early PPD Screening

Edinburgh Perinatal Depression Scale (EPDS) administered at approximately 2 weeks postpartum

Sponsors & Collaborators

Principal Investigators

  • Roy H Perlis, MD, MSc · Massachusetts General Hospital

  • Mark A Clapp, MD, MPH · Massachusetts General Hospital

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SCREENING
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
FEMALE
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2026-06-30
Primary Completion
2027-06-30
Completion
2027-12-31

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07460063 on ClinicalTrials.gov