Evidence
Surveillance decision
We will not update the guideline on antenatal and postnatal mental health at this time.
During surveillance, editorial or factual corrections were identified. Details are included in appendix A: summary of evidence from surveillance.
Reason for the decision
Assessing the evidence
We found 29 studies through surveillance of this guideline.
This included evidence to support current recommendations on case identification and assessment, experience of care, and pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions.
We also identified evidence that was not consistent with current recommendations on access to services and exercise interventions. This evidence was considered to be insufficient in volume and conclusive results to change recommendations in these areas at this time. Topic expert opinion was sought as to whether this evidence would affect current recommendations. Generally, the topic experts agreed that the new evidence would not impact recommendations in these areas.
We did not find any evidence related to the organisation of perinatal mental health services. We also did not find any new evidence on postnatal post-traumatic stress disorder, which was an area considered to be important during post-publication correspondence.
Additionally, we identified relevant ongoing research due to be published in the next 3 to 5 years. There are 4 ongoing trials investigating the effectiveness of pharmacological treatments for postpartum depression which are due to publish by the end of 2017. Three studies investigating psychological or psychosocial treatments have completed recruitment at this time. One study has investigated strategies for postnatal depression screening and is currently in press. A further 3 studies are investigating the effectiveness of perinatal mental health service delivery. The progress of the ongoing studies will be monitored and they will be considered at the next surveillance review when results publish.
Overall decision
After considering all the evidence and views of topic experts and stakeholders, we decided that an update is not necessary for this guideline.
See how we made the decision for further information.
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