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This page adds transparent points for common postpartum distress risk factors: mood history, anxiety, support, relationship strain, major stressors, pregnancy or birth complications, infant hospitalization, severe sleep problems, feeding distress, finances, thyroid symptoms, and young first-time parenthood. It starts with safety questions for self-harm or thoughts of harming the baby. This is not the Edinburgh scale (EPDS), not a diagnosis, and not therapy—use it to prepare for conversations with trusted clinicians or support lines.
Last updated: April 20, 2026
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Safety questions — answer honestly
Stressors and history (past 12 months)
Moderate checklist burden (educational)
5 pts
Several stressors or risk factors are present. Many new parents in this range benefit from earlier—not later—conversation with a clinician or therapist, peer support, sleep and feeding help, and concrete social support.
Postpartum Support International offers support lines and directories in many countries (postpartum.net). This tool cannot replace therapy, medication evaluation, or emergency services.
Any “yes” to those items triggers crisis messaging and emergency resources rather than a numeric score.
Practical and emotional support, partner strain, major life stressors, and financial hardship are common themes in postpartum distress education.
Complications, infant hospitalization, severe sleep disruption beyond newborn norms, and thyroid symptoms are included as educational flags to discuss with clinicians.
When safety questions are both “no,” total points roughly under 5 → lower checklist burden; 5–10 → moderate; 11 or more → higher. These cutoffs are not clinical trial thresholds.
Each endorsed factor adds a fixed number of points reflecting its common emphasis in perinatal mental health education, with prior mood disorders weighted highest. The output is a simple sum meant to prompt reflection and conversation—not to label you with a disease name.
For mood symptoms outside pregnancy, see our anxiety severity score calculator.
Get a Custom Calculator for Your PlatformPrior depression or bipolar (3 points) plus low social support (2 points), with other questions set to no, yields a total of 5 on this educational scale—a reasonable prompt to reach out early for support even before symptoms peak.
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