Results from trials involving 4,000 mothers from 101 general practices in England revealed that those who received care from specially-trained health visitors were 40 per cent less likely to have depressive symptoms after six months.
But health visitors union Unite said there were not enough health visitors to implement the findings of the research.
Dr Cheryll Adams, Unite lead professional officer, strategy and practice development, said that a recent survey revealed that a third of health visitors were not confident that their NHS trust's service allowed cases of postnatal depression to picked up.
She said: "Recent cuts in health visitor workforces have led to the closure of many postnatal depression services delivered by health visitors. If mothers are found to have postnatal depression, most prefer health visitor counselling interventions over drugs. However, there are too few health visitors available to perform this important service for new mothers."
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