Guide by, Dr. K . Vijayakumar, Professor, Community Medicine, Medical College, Tvm.
Submitted by, praji s Prasad, rachana chandran, rajani lilly cheriyan
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Postpartum depression is a maternal mental morbidity which is on a rise today. But most of them go undetected. Hence this study is a venture to find out the prevalence of postpartum depression.
OBJECTIVE: To find out the prevalence of postpartum depression among young mothers.
RESEARCH DESIGN & METHODS:
We carried out a cross sectional study among 100 young mothers admitted to the postnatal wards of SAT Hospital, Trivandrum, during a 3 month period. The prevalence was found out by using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale scoring system for which data was obtained by self administered structured questionnaire through personal interviews. The results were tabulated and analysed.
RESULTS:
Among the 100 young mothers, 19 were found to have a score above 10 out of a total of 30 which was suggestive of postpartum depression according to the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. From our interviews using the questionnaire, we could also find out that lack of support from the family members especially the in-laws had a significant role to play in the occurrence of postpartum depression.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Antenatal and postnatal periods are the most vulnerable periods in the life of a woman. During this period, what a woman needs most is loving support from her family. She should also be encouraged to take adequate rest and relaxation in postnatal period.