3 Antenatal PeriodAssessment• At a woman’s first contact with primary care, at her booking visit and postnatally (usually at 6 weeks and 3-4 months), healthcare professionals should ask 2 questions to identify possible depression. Midwives should ask these questions at the booking visit:o During the past month, have you often been bothered by feeling down, depressed or hopeless?o During the past month, have you often been bothered by having little interest or pleasure in doing things?A third question should be considered if the woman answers yes to either of the initial questiono Is this something you need or want help with?• Specific enquiries after other mental health disorders – bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and past pregnancy related disorders should also be made. One third to one half of women with a past history of mental health issues will experience a recurrence (see table below). Therefore, all women should be screened in pregnancy at booking for previous psychiatric history, puerperal psychosis, history of other psychopathology and family history. Previous mental illness needs to be carefully defined. The term ‘post-natal depression’ or PND should only be used to describe a non-psychotic depressive illness of mild to moderate severity with its onset following delivery. It should be not be used as a generic term to describe other mental illness.