Relationship between levels of postnatal depression and its correlates; neonate's birth order and mother's age among new mothers.

Abstract

Postnatal depression (PND) is a well-known cause of distress among new mothers depicting a significant public health problem affecting women, neonates, and the family.[1] During the postnatal period, there is a rise in the physical and emotional pressure on the mother, and the exhaustion associated with PND may affect her capacity as a mother to provide love and care to the newborn. To study the relationship between the levels of PND and new mothers' age and birth order of the neonates. Hospital setting and cross-sectional research design. The cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 new mothers in the first week of their delivery by administering the Telugu version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). The data was analyzed using SPSS 27 (2019) for ANOVA, F test, and Chi-square test. The majority (90%) of mothers had moderate PND with EPDS scores between 11-20 and 6% had high PND with EPDS scores between 21-30 and the sample mean EPDS scores ranged from 1.23 to 2.14. The results of the one-way analysis of variance indicated that the sample did not differ significantly (<i>P</i> = 0.5 and <i>P</i> > 0.05) in their levels of EPDS scores with regard to their age. On the contrary, there was a significant association found between the birth order of the neonate and levels of PND of new mothers (<i>n</i> = 100) under study. The findings of the study reiterates that the levels of PND among new mothers had no relationship with their age but showed a strong relationship with their neonate's birth order and recommends screening new mothers for PND.