Social Support during Pregnancy and Its Relationship with Anthropometric Indices at Birth and Postnatal Depression in Iranian Women

Abstract

Background: Pregnancy is a critical stage of a woman’s life. Considering the dramatic increase of the need for social support during pregnancy, the present study aimed to determine the level of social support for pregnant women and its relationship with neonatal anthropometric indices and postnatal depression in pregnant women who referred to health centers of Tabriz, Iran in 2013.Methods: In this study, 450 women were selected using cluster sampling. We assessed socio-demographic characteristics and social support status (using interpersonal support evaluation list) ISEL)) at 26-36 weeks of pregnancy. Neonatal height and weight were measured immediately after birth. Maternal depression was assessed six weeks after delivery using the Edinburgh postnatal depression scale (EPDS). Pearson’s correlation was used for determining the relation between the social support score with anthropometric indices and depression score. Results: The mean (standard deviation) score of social support was 69.6 (14.6) out of 90. Overall, 12% of the pregnant women had poor social support (score less than 45). Increasing social support score was correlated with decreasing depression score (P<0.001, r=0.421). There were no statistically significant relationships between social support and birth weight (p=0.055†) and height (p=0.132). Conclusion: Social support during pregnancy can reduce occurrence of postnatal depression. As postnatal depression has many adverse consequences, providing social support for pregnant women should be emphasized.