The first weeks and months with a new baby can be tender, exhausting and quietly overwhelming, sometimes all within the same afternoon. If you have been feeling flat, weepy, on edge or simply not like yourself since giving birth, this free online postnatal depression test can help you put words to it.
It uses the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), a ten-question screening tool created by John Cox, Jeni Holden and Ruth Sagovsky in 1987. Midwives, child health nurses and GPs use it the world over because it is short, gentle and good at picking up distress that new mothers often try to push down.
The questions ask about the past seven days. It takes about three minutes, and your result appears on screen the moment you finish.
We never ask for your name. We never ask for an email. No account required. This assessment is completely anonymous.
Although most people know the EPDS as a postnatal tool, it is also validated for use during pregnancy, so it can help whether your baby is here or still on the way.
How the Assessment Works
You’ll read ten short statements about how things have felt lately: whether you have still been able to laugh, whether worry has been creeping in, whether sleep has been broken by more than night feeds. For each statement you pick the answer that lands closest to your last seven days.
Nothing here is graded, and there is no answer that makes you a better or worse parent. Go with your gut rather than the response you think you ought to give. Once you have worked through all ten, submit to see where your score falls.
Take The Postnatal Depression Assessment
About Your Results
Your result is a snapshot, not a diagnosis. The EPDS screens for symptoms, which means it shows whether your feelings are worth a closer look. It does not take the place of a proper assessment by your GP, midwife or a psychologist.
A higher score does not mean you are failing as a mother. Postnatal depression is one of the most common complications of having a baby, it is nobody’s fault, and it gets better with the right support. If your score lands in the raised range, the most loving thing you can do, for you and your baby, is tell someone who can help.
One of the ten questions asks about thoughts of harming yourself. If that one struck a chord, please don’t carry it on your own.
If you are having thoughts of suicide or self-harm, help is available right now. PANDA, the national Perinatal Anxiety & Depression helpline, is on 1300 726 306. For support at any hour of the day or night, call Lifeline 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636.
What to Do Next
Seeing your score is one thing. Letting yourself ask for help is what actually shifts the load.
If your results point toward postnatal depression, talking to someone who understands this particular season can change how it feels. Pynk Health is an all-women team of psychologists working entirely online, so a session can happen from your lounge room while the baby naps, anywhere in Australia.
Finding things hard since your baby arrived?
Perinatal mental health support is built for this exact stretch: the mood dips, the anxiety, the overwhelm that can arrive with pregnancy and early parenthood. Read about our perinatal mental health support.
Low mood that just won’t lift?
When the heaviness or numbness has hung around for weeks rather than days, counselling gives you a place to work through it. Read about our counselling for depression.
Not sure what you need yet?
A Pynk Pathways Call is a short, easy chat to help you sort out the kind of support that fits and pair you with the right psychologist. Book a Pynk Pathways Call.
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