Introduction: Perinatal depression can affect up to 20% of women during pregnancy or within a year of giving birth. Early identification of depressive symptoms is possible, but requires repeated interactions with the health system. We developed a smartphone app that reduces the need for frequent physical visits by enabling depression screening at home. We aim to assess the feasibility for using the app to measure severity of depressive symptoms among pregnant women. Methods: We used a parallel, randomised control trial study design. Participants were recruited from antenatal clinics and general practices across 10 NHS trusts. Following baseline screening, participants in arm one were required to complete the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) monthly, while in arm two twice a month along with an Ecological Momentary Assessment and other contextual information. Follow-ups will continue for 6 months. Alerts were generated and communicated to the clinical team if a participant scored high on the EPDS. Results: 341 participants were recruited and, of those, 251 installed the app. Abnormal baseline scores and alerts have been followed up by a multidisciplinary team. Preliminary results will be presented. Conclusion: The use of mobile apps can aid toward the early detection and treatment of perinatal depression, while easing the demands on physicians and other health professionals
