Term: Maternal Depression

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Glossary Definition

Last Updated: 2012-05-16

Definition:

In Brownell et al. (2007), maternal depression was defined as the presence of any hospital or physician claims coding depression between 8 months before the birth and 4 months after birth. Included were ICD-9-CM codes from the hospital files or physician claims file for affective psychoses, neurotic depression, adjustment reaction, or depressive disorder, or neurotic disorders plus a prescription for an antidepressant or mood stabilizer. The BabyFirst screening form also included a question on maternal depression which was assessed by the public health nurse.

In Santos et al. (2012) and Brownell et al. (2012), maternal depression is defined as a measure of whether a mother was depressed during the time from the child's birth to their 4th birthday. A mother was defined as depressed if they satisfied any of the following criteria:

• at least one physician visit with an ICD-9-CM code of 311 (depressive disorder), 296 (affective psychoses), or 309 (adjustment reaction) OR
  
• at least one physician visit with an ICD-9-CM code of 300 (neurotic disorders) in conjunction with a prescription for an antidepressant medication or mood stabilizer (but excluding anti-anxiety medications) OR
  
• at least one hospitalization with an ICD-9-CM code of 296.2-296.8, 300.4, 300, 309, or 311, in conjunction with a prescription for an antidepressant medication or mood stabilizer (but excluding anti-anxiety medications)
  
  Note: This definition includes, but is not limited to, postpartum depression.

IMPORTANT NOTE: In 2012, MCHP research combined the depression and anxiety conditions into "Mood and Anxiety Disorders". The concept titled Mood and Anxiety Disorders - Measuring Prevalence describes the MCHP research approach in this subject area.

Related concepts 

• Depression - Defining in Administrative Data
• Mood and Anxiety Disorders - Measuring Prevalence

Related terms 

• BabyFirst Screening (BFS) Form
• Depression
• Prenatal and Family Risk Factors

References 

• Brownell M, Santos R, Kozyrskyj A, Roos N, Au W, Dik N, Chartier M, Girard D, Ekuma O, Sirski M, Tonn N, Schultz J. Next Steps in the Provincial Evaluation of the BabyFirst Program: Measuring Early Impacts on Outcomes Associated with Child Maltreatment. Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, 2007. [Report] [Summary] (View)
• Santos R, Brownell M, Ekuma O, Mayer T, Soodeen R-A. The Early Development Instrument (EDI) in Manitoba: Linking Socioeconomic Adversity and Biological Vulnerability at Birth to Children's Outcomes at Age 5. Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, 2012. [Report] [Summary] (View)

Term used in 

• Brownell M, Chartier M, Santos R, Ekuma O, Au W, Sarkar J, MacWilliam L, Burland E, Koseva I, Guenette W. How are Manitoba's Children Doing? Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, 2012. [Report] [Summary] [Updates and Errata] [Additional Materials] (View)
• Chartier M, Finlayson G, Prior H, McGowan K, Chen H, de Rocquigny J, Walld R, Gousseau M. Health and Healthcare Utilization of Francophones in Manitoba. Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, 2012. [Report] [Summary] (View)