A study on prevalence of postpartum depression and correlation with risk factors

Background: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a depressive disorder, also known as postnatal depression. Despite responsiveness to treatment and serious consequences if untreated, PPD often remains unrecognized. This study aims to study the prevalence of PPD and to correlate risk factors associated with it. Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional study in Departments of OBGY, Pediatrics, and Psychiatry in a tertiary care hospital. Two hundred and fifty consecutive women, 1–6 weeks postpartum attending the above departments, were included after written informed consent. A specially designed semi-structured pro forma was used for correlation of various risk factors. Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale was used for diagnosing PPD. Results: In our study, we found that 20.4% of the women evaluated suffered from PPD. Significant risk factors for PPD included age below 30 years, financial dependence, positive family history of psychiatric illness and PPD, previous girl child, unwanted pregnancy, pressure to have a male child, and complications during pregnancy and delivery. Domestic violence, substance abuse in husband, and relationship issues also increased the risk. Conclusion: Considerable prevalence of PPD is found across various cultures. Prevention of risk factors is useful in primary prevention of PPD. In the future, our study can be used for screening females with high risk for developing PPD so that more intense interventions can be applied