The EPDS is a 10-item questionnaire about the past 7 days that screens for depression in pregnancy and the year after birth. Each item scores 0 to 3, for a total from 0 to 30. See what each score means, how to act on item 10, and record the result with the free template. The official form comes from its publisher.
EPDS result template
FreeEPDS SCREENING RECORD Date: [Date] Person screened: [Name or chart number, age] Recorded by: [Name, role] SCREEN Stage: [Weeks pregnant, or weeks since the birth] Screened as: [Birthing parent or partner] Occasion: [First prenatal visit, third trimester, postpartum check, well-baby visit, or repeat] Form: [Language; filled in alone, or read aloud word for word with an interpreter] RESULT EPDS total: [0 to 30] Result band: [Depression unlikely 0 to 9, possible 10 to 12, probable 13 or more] Item 10, self-harm: [0 to 3; if above 0, the same-day risk assessment and what it found] Anxiety items 3 to 5: [Subtotal out of 9, if your service tracks it] Earlier EPDS scores: [Dates and totals, or first screen] INTERVIEW Mood and onset: [How long, and when it began in relation to the pregnancy or birth] Sleep, feeding, and bonding: [What the person describes beyond a newborn's usual waking] Thoughts of harm: [To self or to the baby; whether intrusive thoughts feel unwanted] Mania or psychosis: [Past or current signs; family history of bipolar disorder] Other causes checked: [Thyroid, anemia, pain, substance use] Supports and stressors: [Partner, family, money, housing, safety at home] Assessment: [Diagnosis or screen result, and how severe] PLAN Support: [Peer group, home visits, practical help, protected sleep] Therapy: [Type, and who it's referred to] Medication: [Started, changed, or not; pregnancy or breastfeeding weighed] Referral: [Perinatal mental health, psychiatry, social work, or none] Safety: [Safety plan, crisis line given, who else knows] Next EPDS: [Date or weeks from now] Signed: [Clinician name, credentials]
Use it for
Depression can start at any point from pregnancy to a year after birth, so screen more than once.
Avoid: Screening only after the birth. About half of depression after birth starts during the pregnancy.
The person fills it in alone in about 5 minutes, thinking about the past 7 days.
Avoid: Paraphrasing the items aloud or letting someone else fill in the answers. Both change the score.
Each item scores 0 to 3, and seven of them are reverse scored. Add all ten for a total from 0 to 30.
Avoid: Scoring the first answer 0 and the last 3 on every item. That gets the reverse-scored items wrong and can turn a high total into a low one.
The band says how likely depression is; the conversation confirms it.
Avoid: Diagnosing depression from the total alone, or dismissing a high score as tiredness.
Item 10 asks about thoughts of harming oneself. Any score above 0 needs a risk assessment before the person leaves.
Avoid: Leaving item 10 for the next appointment because the total was under 10.
Each one follows the recording template. Use them to judge how much to write.
Obstetric practice, routine postpartum visit, form filled in before the appointment
6 weeks after a vaginal birth, first baby. Screened as the birthing parent at the postpartum check. English form, filled in alone in the exam room.
EPDS 14: probable depression. Item 10: 0. Anxiety items 3 to 5: 6 of 9. Earlier EPDS: 7 at 32 weeks pregnant.
31-year-old woman. Tearful most days and “on edge all the time” since about 3 weeks after the birth; lies awake even when the baby sleeps. Breastfeeding, bonding well with her son. No thoughts of harming herself or the baby. No past mania or psychosis; her mother had depression. TSH and hemoglobin drawn today. Partner back at work, family 2 hours away. Assessment: major depressive episode with peripartum onset, moderate, with anxious distress.
She wants to start with therapy. Referred for cognitive behavioral therapy with a perinatal therapist, first session next week. Partner will give one night feed of expressed milk so she gets a 5-hour block of sleep. Details of a local new-parent group given. Sertraline discussed as an option that works with breastfeeding if her mood hasn’t lifted. Review with a repeat EPDS in 3 weeks, sooner if she feels worse; 988 explained.
Prenatal clinic, third-trimester visit, form completed on a clinic tablet
28 weeks pregnant with her second child; her daughter is 2. Third-trimester screen. Spanish form, completed on her own.
EPDS 11: possible depression. Item 10: 1. Anxiety items 3 to 5: 4 of 9. Earlier EPDS: 5 at 10 weeks.
34-year-old woman. Item 10 explored before she left: twice this past week, lying awake at night, a brief thought that it would be easier to disappear. No plan or intent, no past attempts or self-harm, no medicines saved up, no firearms at home. No thoughts of harming her daughter or the baby. Low mood for about a month, since her partner started night shifts; still enjoys afternoons with her daughter. Protective factors: her children, a sister who lives nearby, her church. Assessment: passive thoughts of death without plan or intent; possible depression in pregnancy, mild.
Safety plan written together: her warning signs, her sister as first call, 988 by call or text, and the clinic’s after-hours number. She agreed her sister can be told. Referral to the perinatal mental health team for counseling, to be seen within 2 weeks. No medication for now; to revisit if the score rises. Repeat EPDS, with item 10 asked again, at her 30-week visit. Plan shared with her obstetric provider.
Seven items run from 3 down to 0. Counting them as 0 to 3 can make a probable depression look reassuring. Use the official key.
A total of 7 with item 10 at 1 still needs a risk assessment that day. Check item 10 before adding up the rest.
The blues settle within about 2 weeks of the birth. Low mood that lasts longer, or a high score at any point, needs an interview, not reassurance.
One normal score in pregnancy doesn’t cover the year after birth. Screen again after the birth and at well-baby visits.
Vero Scribe records the EPDS result in your template from the visit, with the patient’s consent, or from your dictation: weeks pregnant or postpartum, the total, item 10 and what you did about it, and the plan. You review and edit every line, then copy it into your record. Vero works in 60+ languages.
Each of the 10 items scores 0 to 3, so the total runs from 0 to 30. Items 1, 2 and 4 score 0 to 3 from the first answer down; the other seven are reverse scored, from 3 down to 0. Use the scoring key that comes with the official form.
A total of 13 or more suggests probable depression, 10 to 12 possible depression, and 0 to 9 makes depression unlikely. A positive item 10 needs action at any total. The diagnosis comes from a clinical interview, not the number.
It depends on what you want to avoid. A cutoff of 10 misses fewer people with depression but flags more who don’t have it; 13 is more certain but misses more. A 2020 BMJ meta-analysis found 11 or more balanced the two best for major depression. Pick one, use it every time, and act on item 10 regardless.
Assess risk the same day: thoughts, plans, intent, past attempts, access to means, and any thoughts of harming the baby. Write a safety plan when needed and agree who else should know. The 988 crisis line takes calls and texts. Confusion or hallucinations after birth can mean postpartum psychosis and need emergency care.
Both screen for depression. The EPDS was built for pregnancy and after birth: it leaves out appetite and energy, which change anyway at these times, and includes items on anxiety. The PHQ-9 follows the full list of symptoms for major depression and scores 0 to 27. Either is accepted for perinatal screening.
The person fills it in themselves, so anyone on the care team can hand it out: a nurse, midwife, medical assistant, or front-desk staff. A clinician should read it the same day, check item 10, and do the follow-up interview.
Yes. Despite its name, it’s validated in pregnancy as well as the year after birth, and it has been studied in fathers and other partners. Some studies in fathers suggest a lower cutoff than in mothers, so talk through a score just under 10 rather than setting it aside.
Clinicians may photocopy it for their own use without asking, in full and with the source cited: Cox, Holden and Sagovsky, British Journal of Psychiatry, 1987. Sharing it more widely or republishing it needs written permission from the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Get the official form from the original paper or your service; the recording template on this page is free to copy or download.
Nine questions on the last two weeks: depression screening and severity, scored 0 to 27.
Two questions on interest and mood: a quick first screen for depression, scored 0 to 6.
Seven questions on worry and tension: anxiety screening and severity, scored 0 to 21.
Up to six questions on suicidal thoughts and behavior; the highest yes sets low, moderate, or high risk.
Twenty items on the past month: PTSD screening and symptom tracking, scored 0 to 80.
When item 10 is above 0: ideation, intent, access to means, and your risk judgment.
Prenatal and postpartum visits documented, with follow-up kept in view.
Session notes and follow-up for counselors seeing perinatal clients.
Every tool, by area, with what its scores mean.
Vero records scores, findings, and plans in the templates you choose, so you review instead of type.
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