A descriptive study on the prevalence of antenatal depression in a rural area in Tamilnadu

AIM OF THE STUDY: To estimate the prevalence of antenatal depression and risk factors associated with Antenatal Depression among rural Pregnant Women in Tamilnadu. OBJECTIVES: 1. To estimate the prevalence of Depression among Antenatal Women residing in rural area. 2. To identify the risk factors associated with Antenatal Depression. 3. To determine the association between Antenatal Depression and low birth weight in babies born to depressed mothers through secondary data analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 260 antenatal women in their third trimester of pregnancy were assessed for antenatal depression using Edinburg post natal depression scale (EPDS). Data was entered in MS Excel and analysed using SPSS 16.The risk factors associated with antenatal depression were identified by multivariate analysis. RESULTS: There was a 14.62 % prevalence of antenatal depression among the 260 women sampled. Of the possible risk factors studied, marital conflicts (AOR = 2.96, 95% CI 1.25 - 6.96) and perceived lack of social support (AOR = 3.15, 95% CI 1.39 – 7.12) were found to be significantly associated with antenatal depression. CONCLUSION: In the study population, 38 (14.62 %) had antenatal depression. Marital conflicts and perceived lack of social support was significantly associated with antenatal depression