Analysis and development of mobile perinatal mental health system

Abstract

Perinatal depression includes major and minor depressive episodes during pregnancy or in the first 12 months after birth. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that clinicians screen patients at least once during pregnancy for depression and anxiety symptoms using a standardised tool. This paper attempts to consolidate current depression screening tools into an electronic application that can be accessed from a computer, tablet or cell phone and can be sent directly to the primary care physician's office for review. The object-oriented approach was used to analysis and design the system. The systems requirements are first gathered using questionnaire and interviews with practitioners; then, analysed based on unified modelling language techniques such as use case, class, and sequence diagrams. This system will aid healthcare providers in identifying patients who are at risk of perinatal depression.