Mothers in the Philippines carry a heavy load of perinatal depression, a problem that already affects about one in four women across lower and middle income countries and looks even more common at home. Earlier work by the same research group found that three in five pregnant or postpartum Filipino women report clinically significant symptoms, yet until now the main screening questionnaire had never been properly checked in a large community sample.
A study published in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics tested the 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale with 1025 women between November 2023 and May 2024. The group included 356 women who were still pregnant, 500 who had given birth since late January 2020, and 169 who had experienced stillbirth or the death of a newborn. Women could complete the questions online after a Facebook invitation or in person at maternity clinics, and they were free to switch between the English and Tagalog versions whenever they wished.
Factor analysis produced a clear three part structure. One cluster of questions reflected depressed mood, another captured psychological distress, and a third measured anhedonia or loss of pleasure. The full scale and the mood and distress subscales showed good internal consistency, with Cronbach alpha figures of 0.865, 0.846 and 0.824. The two question anhedonia subscale was weaker at 0.625 and needs cautious use, perhaps because Filipino culture often frames pregnancy and motherhood as times of joy rather than loss of interest.
The same three factor pattern held steady across age groups, pregnancy outcome and language choice. Scores on the overall scale and the two stronger subscales also showed moderate correlations with standard state and trait anxiety questionnaires, giving extra support for the tool’s concurrent validity.
Taken together the results indicate that the Edinburgh scale is suitable for everyday screening of Filipino women during pregnancy and after birth, including those who have suffered a perinatal loss. Its short length and the option to complete it remotely or face to face make it a practical choice in settings where specialist mental health services remain scarce.
The study has limits. Most participants were reached through social media, so mothers without reliable internet access are under represented, and women younger than 18 were not included. The team also did not compare scale scores with a full clinical diagnostic interview. Even so, the work supplies the largest community based check of the questionnaire yet published for the Philippines and supports its wider use in maternal health programmes.
Better detection alone will not create more treatment places, but it is a necessary first step if more mothers and their children are to receive timely help.
