Abstract
Background: Paternal postnatal depression (PPND) is a potential mental health disorder for new fathers. Postpartum depression (PPD) in women is well recognized and understood, but the same cannot be said about PPND. Women are routinely screened for PPD, but men are not.|Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project is to implement routine PPND screening for fathers of infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).|Methods/Implementation Plan: The participants will be a convenience sample of fathers of infants in a 36-bed level III NICU in a Midwest academic hospital. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) will be the screening tool used to identify PPND in fathers. The goal is to screen fathers at one week after the birth of their infant, then every 30 days while their infant is in the NICU. Fathers that score a 10 or higher will be referred to a licensed mental health provider.|Findings/Results: 127 infants were admitted to the NICU during the time of data collection. Seventy-nine of those infants were still in the NICU at a week of life making those fathers eligible for screening for PPND. Thirty-five fathers (44%) completed screening at or near a week after delivery of their child. Five of the 35 screened scored 10 or higher (14%) indicating possible depression. Three (60%) of those fathers were referred to a licensed mental health provider. Of the six fathers that were eligible to complete screening at 30 days, one father completed the screening (16.6%).|Implications for Practice: New fathers can experience postnatal depression (PND) just as new mothers experience PPD. All new parents of infants born at any gestational age would benefit from routine screening. This allows for prompt referral and treatment if needed. Having an infant in the NICU can add additional stressors to parents. NICUs should adopt routine screening of both parents to ensure parents are being supported through a difficult time.|Implications for Research: As most research is aimed at maternal PPD; further research is needed to focus on fathers in the postnatal period. The research should also include same sex parents, adoptive parents, and foster parents.