Depression during pregnancy or after birth self-check
The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is a 10-question screening questionnaire widely used during pregnancy and after birth.
This is a screening tool, not a diagnosis. Only a health professional can diagnose depression or anxiety. Your answers stay on this device: they aren't saved, sent, or added to the page address, and they disappear when you leave the page.
If you're thinking about hurting yourself, don't wait to finish: call or text 988, or call 911 if you are in immediate danger.
As you are pregnant or have recently had a baby, we would like to know how you are feeling. Please check the answer that comes closest to how you have felt IN THE PAST 7 DAYS, not just how you feel today.
You're not alone, and help is available right now
You said you've had thoughts of harming yourself. Please reach out now. It's free and confidential.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. Free and confidential. ASL via videophone.11
Call or text 988Crisis Text Line
Text HOME to 741741 or chat at connect.crisistextline.org. Free and confidential, with trained volunteer crisis counselors. En español: text HOLA to 741741.31
Chat onlineA printout or saved PDF is a copy someone else could find.
What to do next
A self-check is a starting point, not a diagnosis. Whatever your score, if something doesn't feel right, it's worth talking to a doctor, nurse, or counselor.
- Finding mental health care: what to do after a self-check: where to start, and the kinds of help available.
- Questions to ask your doctor, to bring to an appointment.
The EPDS was built to detect depression; the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services notes it will not detect anxiety disorders.48 If worry or fear is a big part of how you feel, the anxiety self-check asks about those feelings.
Guides that may help
Free, confidential support
National Maternal Mental Health Hotline
Call 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262) or text 1-833-852-6262. Free and confidential. English and Spanish. TTY: use a relay service or dial 711, then 1-833-852-6262.10
Call 1-833-TLC-MAMAPostpartum Support International HelpLine
Call 1-800-944-4773 or text "Help" to 800-944-4773 (English) or 971-203-7773 (Spanish). English and Spanish. Does not handle emergencies; in a crisis, call 988 or 911.29
Call 1-800-944-4773988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. Free and confidential. ASL via videophone.11
Call or text 988About this questionnaire
Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS).47,48 The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services notes that a score of 10 or more may indicate possible depression.
Cox, J.L., Holden, J.M., and Sagovsky, R. 1987. Detection of postnatal depression: Development of the 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. British Journal of Psychiatry 150:782-786. Users may reproduce the scale without further permission providing they respect copyright by quoting the names of the authors, the title and the source of the paper in all reproduced copies.