Prevalence of antenatal depression, anxiety
and stress symptomatology
The prevalence of depression symptoms (above the recommended
cut-offs) among antenatal women was found to be
17.2% as measured by the EDS and 20.2% as measured by
the DASS-21. These results suggest a higher level of depression
symptoms during the antenatal period than the average
rate found during the postnatal period (13%; O’Hara and
Swain, 1996). This is consistent with other studies using selfreport
symptom rating scales which reliably find that depression
symptoms are higher in the antenatal period compared
with the postnatal period (Evans et al, 2001).
In addition to the high prevalence of depression symptoms,
24.5% of the antenatal sample were found to have
anxiety symptoms in the ‘mild or above’ range. Other studies
have also suggested that perinatal anxiety disorders may be