ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: This study aimed to provide preliminary data for a nursing intervention plan for puerperal women to reduce postpartum depression by investigating factors that affect depressive disorder during the puerperal period. METHODS: A total of 153 pregnant women were recruited from a university hospital in Gimhae city in Korea. Data were collected using self-report questionnaires. RESULTS: Mothers' quality of sleep, breast-feeding confidence, discomfort with breastfeeding, depressive feeling during pregnancy, and baby's feeding capability and growth were significant predictors of postpartum depression. These variables explained 36.1% of the variance in postpartum depression in puerperal women. CONCLUSION: The aforementioned results indicate that puerperal women are less likely to experience postpartum depression when their quality of sleep is higher, breast-feeding confidence is higher, discomfort with breast-feeding is lower, when they did not feel depressed during pregnancy, and when baby's feeding capability and growth is better. Therefore, to decrease puerperal women's depression, a nursing intervention program and a research study to verify the effects of the program are necessary to increase mother's sleep quality and breast-feeding adaptation and prevent depression during pregnancy.