ANTEPARTUM DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS AND ASSOCIATED RISK FACTORS AMONG ANTENATAL WOMEN IN NORTHERN KERALA- A HOSPITAL BASED STUDY

Abstract

Depression is the most frequent psychiatric disorder that women face throughout their perinatal period. As the pregnancy proceeds, the risk of antenatal depression rises, and clinically severe depressive symptoms are quiet common in last trimesters. The present study aimed to identify the prevalence of antenatal depressive symptoms (APDS) and its associated risk factors among pregnant women attending Antenatal outpatient department (OPD) at Institute of Maternal and child health (IMCH) ,Kozhikode. Two hundred antenatal women were screened for APDS using Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Screening Scale (EPDS). The prevalence of APDS among antenatal women was 40.5% .History of illness in present pregnancy, previous pregnancy, fetal well- being, history of mental illness, fear of birth and social support were signicantly associated with APDS. Pregnancy has a high prevalence of depressive symptoms, necessitating frequent screening during antenatal checkup to detect APDS and integrating mental health service with perinatal car