Role Function and Mental Health in Postpartum Working Women

Abstract

1. Postpartum women have unique needs warranting study due to competing perspectives on the duration and time needed for recovery after childbirth. 2. This pilot study tests measures of role function and mental health in a sample of 26 women returning to work within 6 months of childbirth. 3. The study did not reveal decrements in mental health among subjects, but did reveal limitations to functional status. The results also suggested that the adapted measure of role function, and the measure of mental health, are reliable and have some preliminary evidence of construct validity in this population. 4. The results of the study have implications for occupational health nursing practice, including worker assessment and family policy development, and serve as a resource for measuring health outcomes in workers.