Postpartum depression and its relation to baby gender and unplanned pregnancy

Postpartum depression is a disabling illness which can influence in the women's social relationship and their ability to achieve the task of neonatal care. Early diagnosis of depression and recognition of its related factors, preventive and therapeutic measures can be considered which can lead to health of mother, neonate, family and society. The aim of this study was to investigate postpartum depression and its relation to unplanned pregnancy and baby gender in the women who had given birth in community oriented medical clinic of Kermanshah University. This was a cross-sectional study. 531 primiparous women, who had referred to community oriented clinic between 10-40 days after delivery, were included in this study and evaluated for depression. Sampling method was census. Data were collected by use of Edinburgh postnatal Depression scale (EPDS) and an informational form about demographic characteristics, baby gender, planned or unplanned pregnancy and history of depression. SPSS software was used and data were analyzed by means of analytical statistics (chi-square and t-test). 40.7% of the subjects had postpartum depression. Postpartum depression revealed a significant relationship with unplanned pregnancy and the history of depression (p=0.002), but no significant relationship was found between postpartum depression and neonatal gender. Postpartum depression has a high prevalence in our study affecting approximately 50% of mothers. Therefore screening for postpartum depression should be considered mandatory in postpartum care. Also special measures should be considered for women with unplanned pregnancy and history of depression during pregnancy and postnatal period.