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Background The last study conducted in Lebanon about postpartum depression dates back to 2014, whereas no studies have been conducted to assess postpartum anxiety (PPA). The shortage of research in this field and the potential opportunities to provide different aspects of postpartum care that respond to women's needs require a deeper understanding of the various problems faced by postpartum women. The study objectives were to delineate some factors associated with postnatal depression and anxiety among a sample of Lebanese women 4-6 weeks after delivery and validate the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale (PASS) in Arabic language in that sample.Methods This cross-sectional study, carried out between July 2018 and March 2019, enrolled 295 participants who came for a postnatal checkup to four clinics.Results Higher postpartum anxiety (Beta=0.25), higher insomnia (Beta=0.11) and having complications during delivery (Beta=1.81) were associated with higher postpartum depression. Higher postpartum depression score (Beta=1.38) and a premature baby birth compared to those born at term with normal weight (Beta=4.25) were associated with higher postpartum anxiety. The factor analysis for the EPDS and the PASS scales was run over the whole sample. The EPDS and PASS scales items converged over a solution of three and seven factors that had an Eigenvalue over 1 respectively, explaining a total of 64.73% and 65.12% of the variance respectively. High Cronbach’s alpha values were found for the EPDS (0.826) and PASS (0.920) scales.Conclusion Depression and anxiety prevalence rates in the Lebanese population is higher compared to other countries which may in part be due to differences of regional, social, and environmental culture. Different etiological factors could contribute to both depression and anxiety in the postpartum period, which could adversely affect both the mother and the infant.

Background: We found that it was important to fill a gap in the literature and check the psychometric properties of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale (PASS) in the Arabic language and delineate factors associated with postnatal depression (PPD) and anxiety (PPA) among Lebanese women 4–6 weeks after delivery. Methods: This cross-sectional study carried out between July 2018 and March 2019 enrolled 295 participants who came for a postnatal checkup at four clinics. Results: The EPDS and PASS scales’ items converged over two- and four-factor solutions, explaining 62.51% and 53.33% of the variance, respectively (KMO EPDS = 0.816, αCronbach EPDS = 0.826; KMO PASS = 0.878, αCronbach PASS = 0.920; Bartlett’s test of sphericity p < 0.001). Higher postpartum anxiety (Beta = 0.256), higher postpartum insomnia (Beta = 0.079), having hypotension during pregnancy (Beta = 2.760), and having a second (Beta = 1.663) or a third baby or more (Beta = 2.470) compared with the first one were significantly associated with higher postpartum depression. Higher postpartum depression (Beta = 1.33) was significantly associated with higher postpartum anxiety, whereas having a baby through a planned pregnancy (Beta = −4.365) and having a baby who ate regularly (Beta = −3.639) were significantly associated with lower postpartum anxiety. Conclusion: Depression and anxiety prevalence rates in the Lebanese population were higher compared with other countries, which may be due in part to the differences in regional, social and environmental culture.