SAĞLIK PERSONELİNİN POSTPARTUM HÜZÜN İLE İLGİLİ BİLGİ, DÜŞÜNCE VE UYGULAMALARI: KESTİSEL BİR ÇALIŞMA

Abstract

Aim: This descriptive study was conducted in order to determine the knowledge, opinions and practices of health personnel about postpartum blues. Method: The study was conducted with 53 nurses/midwives, 29 family physicians and 2 family physician specialists working in primary health care institutions, and 29 nurses/midwives, 6 obstetricians and 6 pediatricians working in the obstetrics and pediatric clinics in Söke district of Aydın. It was carried out in a total of 125 health personnel. Data were collected according to self-report of participants with a questionnaire following official and personnel permissions. Data were evaluated with Chi-Square, Fisher Exact Chi-Square, Kruskal Wallis H and Mann Whitney-U tests and p< 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Participants’ mean age was 39.78±7.31 years and duration of work was 17.40±7.81 years; 81.6% were women and 44.8% had a bachelor's degree. 70% of the participants who stated that they knew about postpartum blues (56%) and obtained their knowledge from vocational training (67.1%) had moderate level of postpartum blues knowledge. 66.4% of the participants see postpartum blues as a health problem, 63.6% care about helping the mother and 80% think that health personnel should be trained. 45.6% of the participants encountered postpartum blues and provided spousal and family support (61.4%), but they considered themselves inadequate (79.2%) in this regard. The knowledge and practices of all health personnel working in the community health center and pediatric clinics, as well as nurses/midwives working in the 1st and 2nd levels are insufficient (p<0.05). Conclusion: Health personnel have a positive thought about postpartum blues, but their knowledge and practices are insufficient and affected by institutional, professional and individual factors. It is important to support health personnel serving mothers with planned and continuous trainings before and after graduation, and to make arrangements to increase their awareness.