Abstract
ABSTRACT Purpose: The study aims are to explore the lived experiences of mothers and fathers of postpartum depression and parental stress after childbirth. Methods: Qualitative interviews conducted, and analysed from an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) perspective. Results: Both mothers and fathers described experiences of inadequacy, although fathers described external requirements, and mothers described internal requirements as the most stressful. Experiences of problems during pregnancy or a traumatic delivery contributed to postpartum depression and anxiety in mothers and affected fathers’ well-being. Thus, identifying postpartum depression with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, mothers described varying experiences of child health care support. Postpartum depression seemed to affect the spouses’ relationships, and both mothers and fathers experienced loneliness and spouse relationship problems. Experiences of emotional problems and troubled upbringing in the parents’ family of origin may contribute to vulnerability from previous trauma and to long-term depressive symptoms for mothers. Conclusions: The findings of this study demonstrate the significant impact of postpartum depression and parental stress has in parents’ everyday lives and on the spouse relationship. These results support a change from an individual parental focus to couples’ transition to parenthood in child health care.
Highlights
Already in the late ’90s, Kirby Deater-Deckard (1998) established that parenting stress linked to adult functioning, the quality of the parent-child relationships, and child functioning
The findings of this study demonstrate the significant impact of postpartum depression and parental stress has in parents’ everyday lives and on the spouse relationship
Many research studies have found that postpartum depression in mothers is common after delivery, with a prevalence rate ranging from 10% to 15%, depending on the criteria used for diagnosis (Brummelte & Galea, 2016; Shorey et al, 2018)
Summary
Already in the late ’90s, Kirby Deater-Deckard (1998) established that parenting stress linked to adult functioning, the quality of the parent-child relationships, and child functioning. Many research studies have found that postpartum depression in mothers is common after delivery, with a prevalence rate ranging from 10% to 15%, depending on the criteria used for diagnosis (Brummelte & Galea, 2016; Shorey et al, 2018). Prevalence studies on depression following delivery have primarily focused on mothers, and generally on the period of the first year after birth. A Swedish study found the prevalence of depressive symptoms, to be 11.3% for the mothers, and 4.9% for the fathers 25 months after childbirth (Johansson, Svensson, Stenström, & Massoudi, 2017). Describe mental health during childhood and young adult? Describe relations to friends during childhood and as an adult? Tell me about your pregnancy Tell me about the delivery Tell me about health after becoming parents?. Emerging themes were noted and transformed into more specific themes, which were clustered by connecting them, followed by capturing the main categories of meaning conveyed by the participants
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