What this Trial Is About

Researchers are evaluating a new intervention to prevent postpartum depression (PPD) in pregnant women. The study focuses on women between 20 and 28 weeks of pregnancy who show signs of distress with an Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS-10) score of 7 or higher. This pilot randomized controlled trial aims to test the feasibility, acceptance, and early effectiveness of a combined approach involving brief psychological counselling, ecological momentary assessment (EMA), mobile health (mHealth) support, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-guided telephone counselling. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three groups. The first group receives brief psychological counselling, a 2-week EMA period where they respond to mood and lifestyle prompts five times daily, 10 weeks of personalized mobile health psychological support via instant messages, and a 45-minute CBT telephone counselling session. The second group only completes the 2-week EMA. The control group receives only brief psychological counselling and health education. Follow-up assessments occur at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks after enrollment, with surveys conducted by phone after childbirth. Interviews will explore participants' experiences with the EMA and mHealth interventions. During the study, participants engage in questionnaires about mood, anxiety, stress, sleep, and overall well-being. Researchers will measure differences in postpartum depression scores two weeks after birth, along with anxiety, stress, insomnia symptoms, self-rated health, family functioning, and perceived happiness over eight weeks postpartum. The study includes monitoring of participants' responses and adherence to the assessments and support messages, aiming to understand the intervention's impact and acceptability.

EMA and mHealth in Preventing Postpartum Depression