Original 22 items grounded in the EPDS domain structure, not the EPDS itself — we do not administer or reproduce that instrument.
Postpartum Mood Check-In, Free 22-Question Self-Reflection
Feeling flat, guilty, or disconnected since your baby arrived? A 22-question self-reflection across the domains behind the EPDS, the clinical standard for postpartum mood screening. A self-reflection tool, not a diagnosis.
What is the Postpartum Mood Check-In?
This check-in looks at postpartum mood through eight domains: anhedonia (whether things you used to enjoy still feel enjoyable), guilt and self-blame, anxiety and worry, sleep disturbance beyond what a newborn alone would explain, overwhelm and coping capacity, low mood and sadness, a sense of disconnection from your pre-baby identity, and, because it matters enough to ask about directly, thoughts of self-harm. That last domain mirrors a deliberate feature of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), the clinical reference standard for postpartum screening: a validated instrument doesn't treat self-harm ideation as too sensitive to ask about, it asks plainly and takes the answer seriously.
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Feeling exhausted, weepy, or overwhelmed in the first couple of weeks after birth, often called the baby blues, is extremely common and usually passes on its own as hormones settle and sleep improves. Postpartum depression is different: it tends to last longer than two weeks, feels heavier than tiredness, and can include a persistent flatness, guilt that won't lift, or a sense of being disconnected from your baby or yourself. The DSM-5 uses a 'peripartum onset' specifier for a depressive episode that begins during pregnancy or within four weeks of delivery, though in practice postpartum mood changes are recognized well beyond that narrow window, sometimes emerging months later.
This check-in is a self-reflection tool, not a diagnostic instrument, and it does not replace an evaluation by a licensed professional. It draws on the clinical domain structure behind the EPDS (Cox, Holden & Sagovsky, 1987) without reproducing its exact wording, adapted here into a plain-language self-check for a general audience. If your results suggest your mood, sleep, or sense of connection have been genuinely struggling, your OB-GYN, midwife, or a therapist experienced with postpartum mental health is a reasonable next step, and if you're ever having thoughts of harming yourself, that's worth telling someone today, not waiting on.
What You'll Discover
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