Postpartum depression is common. New research aims to help rural moms get care

The Ohio Newsroom | By Erin Gottsacker

Published September 23, 2024 at 5:15 AM EDT

Postpartum depression affects a lot of women. Research suggests about 1 in 7 new moms deal with it.

But fewer than half get the mental health care they need, and treatments for the mood disorder remain understudied, said Dr. Frances Wymbs, a clinical psychologist and associate professor in Ohio University’s Department of Primary Care.

“There are still a lot of barriers to identifying women who have postpartum depression,” she said. “They might not realize they have postpartum depression. There might be shame. There might be just a lack of focus on the mom when the baby arrives.”

Wymbs is leading a team of researchers to figure out how to reduce postpartum depression in Ohio mothers, specifically in rural communities where care can be even harder to access.

Rural barriers to postpartum care

“We know that access to care can differ depending on location,” Wymbs said. “And rural communities can be particularly challenging.”

“There are still a lot of barriers to identifying women who have postpartum depression. They might not realize they have postpartum depression. There might be shame.”

Dr. Frances Wymbs

Unlike in many urban spaces, moms in rural communities might not have access to reliable public transportation. And although telehealth offers an alternative to in-person doctor’s visits, not all rural homes have reliable broadband.

Rural communities sometimes lack child care options for a newborn to receive care while a mom is in an appointment.

And there’s an added element of cultural acceptance to consider, Wymbs said.

“Sometimes there are cultural norms around the acceptability of an intervention, or even just the acceptance of having a mental health concern,” she said.

Her research aims to better understand the needs of postpartum women in these rural communities, so providers can better serve them. And it’s just getting started.

Learning from focus groups of rural moms

Wymbs and her team are hosting focus groups with mothers, their relatives and their providers to hear directly about their experiences.

“We want to get a sense as to what types of mental health care they may have received before, and what types of mental health care they wish that they would have received,” Wymbs said.

Already, she said several themes are emerging from these discussions.

“It reminds me of when we get on a plane, and we hear how you have to put on your own oxygen mask before you put on your child’s oxygen mask,” she said. “Both a patient and a provider focus group member said that we need to have messages about caring for ourselves, especially for new moms who might be affected by stress in an especially intense way.”

The focus groups are also discussing treatment options for postpartum depression that could be especially effective, from alternative medication options to cognitive behavioral therapy (an evidence-based treatment for depression) administered by a nurse instead of a doctor.

“Those care models are being used in other parts of the country but not here right now,” Dr. Wymbs said.

She plans to hold focus groups like these for two years, but this research won’t stop after that.

“What we’re hoping is that we could prioritize a list of research questions that we could test, and then we could compare treatments these patients are saying they need,” she said.

The ultimate goal, she said, is to find the best options for rural moms dealing with postpartum depression to improve their quality of life

This article was originally published by Ideastream Public Media.