Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale

EPDS — 10 questions — ~5 min

A short, widely used questionnaire for depression during pregnancy and after birth. Fill it in together in session, or send it to a client to complete at home.

Before you start

As you are pregnant or have recently had a baby, we would like to know how you are feeling. Please choose the answer that comes closest to how you have felt in the past 7 days, not just how you feel today.

Answers stay on this device and aren't saved anywhere.

Send to a client

Your client fills it in at home, from a private link with your name and logo. Results are scored and saved to your account, so you can track them over time.

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About the EPDS

The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale was developed to help health professionals spot depression after birth. It asks ten questions about how the person has felt over the past seven days.

It focuses on mood rather than physical symptoms like tiredness or poor sleep, which are common for every new parent. It’s also used during pregnancy, and with partners and fathers.

Questions: 10
Time: About 5 minutes
Covers: Past 7 days
Score range: 0–30

How it’s scored

Each question scores from 0 to 3. Some questions list the most worrying answer first, so the points don’t always follow the order on the page. The total runs from 0 to 30.

Items 3, 4 and 5 can also be added up on their own (the EPDS-3A, 0–9) as a short measure of anxiety.

EPDS score ranges
Score	Severity
0–9	Depression unlikely
10–12	Possible depression
13–30	Likely depression

Good to know

Question 10 asks about thoughts of self-harm. Any answer other than “never” needs a direct, same-day conversation about safety — whatever the total score.
It’s a screening tool, not a diagnosis. A score in the “possible” or “likely” range is a reason for a fuller clinical assessment.
Cut-offs vary a little between services and countries. Many use 10 or more for possible depression and 13 or more for probable depression.
If it has been less than about two weeks since birth, low mood may be the “baby blues”, which usually passes on its own. Repeating the scale a little later can help tell the two apart.

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