Effects of Home Visits and Planned Education on Mothers’ Postpartum Depression and Quality of Life

Abstract

Objective: The present study aims at determining the effects of home visits and planned training on mothers’ postpartum depression and quality of life. Materials and Methods: The sample of quasi-experimental study was consisted of 70 women. Study data were collected by means of a personal information questionnaire, the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale (WHOQOL-BREF). Results: The average age of the mothers is between 25.50±4.78. In repeated measurements, statistically significant differences were found among quality of life scores of mothers (p<0.05), and their quality of life scores were found to be higher in the third measurement when compared to the first measurement. In all repeated measurements, a statistically significant negative relationship was found between depression and quality of life scores of mothers (p<0.05), and mothers’ depression scores were seen to decrease as their quality of life scores increased. Statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were found among depression scores according to mothers’ education level and among quality of life scores according to their number of pregnancies. University graduate mothers’ depression scores decreased in the second measurement and scores were the same in the third measurement. In the third measurement, primiparous mothers’ quality of life scores were found to be higher than in the first measurement. Conclusions: The study findings demonstrate that mothers are at risk of depression during the postpartum period, postpartum depression negatively affects their quality of life, and home visits and training increase their quality of life and decrease their depression risk.