Postpartum Depression and Help Seeking Behaviors in Immigrant Hispanic Women

Abstract

Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing minority group living in the United States. Hispanic women have the highest fertility rate of all ethnic/racial groups, comprising 23% of births in the United States. Providing quality health care to vulnerable and underserved populations such as Hispanic immigrants is essential. While postpartum depression (PPD) is prevalent among disadvantaged Hispanic women, it is not readily detected by women or their health care providers. Barriers to help seeking behaviors and underutilization of mental health services in Hispanics have been identified, but no qualitative descriptive studies address help seeking in Hispanic immigrant women experiencing symptoms of PPD. The purpose of the study was to describe the experiences of immigrant Hispanic women having symptoms of PPD and identify barriers to accessing mental health services.