Perception of the team's family health program about depression puerperal

Objective: analyze the perception of the team’s Family Health Program about Postpartum Depression (PD), highlighting the importance of early detection in preventing the damage to mother-infant interaction. Method: it is a descriptive exploratory study with a quantitative approach; the sample consisted of 63 professionals from Natal City/RN. Data were collected in the first half of 2007, after obtaining an appropriate consent of the Research Ethics Committee of Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (Protocol No 155/CEP-UFRN). It was applied a questionnaire with questions adapted to the criterion for depression diagnosis of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, considering all ethical aspects involving research with human subjects as stated in Resolution No. 196/96, the Ministry of Health Results: 22.2% and 36.5%, respectively, related DP with mental disorders and impairment of mother-child relations. 89% fall into the track to satisfactory identification of DP; 6,3% index did not reach desirable and 4,7% reached maximum score of identifying signs/symptoms. Conclusion: despite the satisfactory results, discusses the need to update the teams in order to make actions more effective in prevention and early diagnosis of DP.