Abstract
Background Pregnancy and postpartum are considered as high risk periods for the emergence of psychiatric disorder. Although postpartum depressive symptoms have been associated with tragic outcome, such as maternal suicide and infanticide, it is a neglected area of mental health care in developing countries. This study was conducted to find the prevalence and factors associated with postpartum depressive symptoms. Method A community-based cross-sectional research design was carried out after selecting the three wards of Bharatpur submetropolitan by nonprobability purposive sampling method. A total of 160 mothers in their 1 month to 12 months of postpartum period were interviewed through semistructured interview schedule and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Collected data were entered in Epi, data 3.1, and was exported into IBM SPSS 20 version. Results The prevalence of depressive symptoms among postpartum mothers was 27.5%. The multivariate analysis identified two factors significantly associated with postpartum depression including respondents who had education level of ≤10 class (odds ratio [AOR] = 3.25, P = 0.03, confidence interval [CI] = 1.10 − 9.58), chronic disease in their family (odds ratio [AOR] = 3.25, P = 0.01, confidence interval [CI] = 1.19 − 8.16). Conclusion More than one out of four mothers is suffering from depressive symptoms. The major factors associated with postpartum depressive symptoms are education of respondents and chronic disease in the family. Screening and timely management of depressive symptoms should be incorporated in routine maternal care so as to enhance maternal and child health. Likewise, concerned authority should plan and organize awareness-raising programs and provide attractive package to attract the female population for higher education.
Highlights
Pregnancy and postpartum are considered as high risk periods for the emergence of psychiatric disorder
The Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale has been translated from the original English version to a number of languages and has been validated and used successfully in detecting postnatal depression in many countries [5]
Postpartum depressive symptoms have been associated with tragic outcome, such as maternal suicide and infanticide; it is a neglected area of mental health care in developing countries
Summary
Postpartum depression (PPD) is a mood disorder to describe the various disorders such as anxiety, loss of enjoyment, sadness, and fatigue which may have serious adverse long-term effects on both the children and mothers [1]. Postpartum nonpsychotic depression is the most common complication of childbearing affecting approximately 10-15% of women and as such represents a considerable public health problem affecting women and their families [3] which affects progress towards the achievement of several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Postpartum depressive symptoms have been associated with tragic outcome, such as maternal suicide and infanticide; it is a neglected area of mental health care in developing countries. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and various factors associated with depressive symptoms among postpartum mothers
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