Comparison of Zinc Level In Mother With Postpartum Blues and Normal at Makassar City

Abstract

Introduction : Postpartum blues is a mild mood disorder that is temporary, characterized by short tears, feelings of loneliness or rejection, anxiety, confusion, forgetfulness and imsomnia. The causes can occur in the form of biological and social factors. Postpartum blues is a type of depression commonly found in mothers. Zinc is a biological factor that is thought to be related to the incidence of depression in mothers Objectives: This study aims to look at zinc levels in mothers with postpartum blues when compared with normal mothers Methods: This research was conducted at St. Fatimah Hospital in Makassar. This type of research is analytic study with cross sectional design.The population of this study was all mothers who were treated at St. Fatimah Hospital for the period of May-June 2017 that were selected by purposive sampling. Based on established criteria, 68 postpartum mothers were chosen. Depression scores were collected using the Edinburg Postnatal Depression Scale. Level of zinc was examined through the colorimetric method using QuantiChrom Zink Assay Kit (DIZN-250). To determine the differences in zinc levels used independent t test. Results: This study found that zinc levels in mothers with postpartum blues were higher when compared to normal mothers. The difference is 1.74 µg / dl. But the difference was not significant (p = 0.263). Most mothers with postpartum blues have low zinc levels (66.7%) whereas those normal mother mostly have very low zinc levels (50%). But the difference was not significant (p = 0.170) Conclusion: This study found no significant differences in zinc levels in mother with postpartum blues or normal. But an important finding is the low levels of zinc in postpartum mothers in Makassar City. This is important to get attention because zinc plays an important role in the health of mother and child