Risk of Postpartum Depression in the Early Postnatal Period

Abstract

Introduction: Postpartum depression is an important health problem because of its negative impact on the family. The objective of this study was to ascertain the risk of depression in new mothers who had recently given birth in public university hospitals in Granada and to identify the factors that most contributed to the onset of postpartum depression. Materials and method:A descriptive study was made of a sample population of 370 new mothers, 18-46 years of age, who had given birth from January to May 2013. The subjects filled out the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), a 10-item self-report scale. The women were also given a questionnaire that elicited sociodemographic and obstetric data. The EPDS cut-off score used was 10/11. Results:The average EPDS score obtained was 6.12 with an interval of 0-25. Our results showed that 15.13% of the women in the study had scores equal of 11 or higher. Risk of postpartum depression had a statistically significant correlation with weeks of pregnancy (p=0.031), onset of labour (p=0.000), type of delivery (p=0.029), and reasons for not having epidural anaesthesia (p=0.038). It also had a significant positive correlation with the subject's obstetric history. Conclusions:The majority of the women in the sample population had scores that did not exceed the risk threshold score identified in the study. As reflected in our results, the risk factors for postpartum depression were onset of labour, type of delivery, reasons for not having epidural anaesthesia, and parity.