effect of pregnancy life style on the reliabilityof developing postpartum blues amongprimigravida women

ABSTRACT

Postpartum blues is a common major psychological problem that the women face during postpartum period. The study aim was to assess the effect of pregnancy life style on the reliability of developing postpartum blues among primigravida. A prospective cohort design was used and a purposive sample of 188 primigravida women from Ain Shams University maternity Hospital was* included in the study. The total sample reached 158 as 30 cases were dropped out in the follow up process. Two tools were used for data collection; Structured-interviewing questionnaire sheet, and modified Edinburgh postnatal depression attitude scale. The study revealed that about one third of the studied sample developed postpartum blues during follow up. All almost studied sample were suffering from psychological stressors, majority of them suffered from physical problems during pregnancy, there were certain life style actions that put the primigravida women on risk of developing post partum blues, these actions included methods of spending spare time, eating habits, caffeine consumption and type of occupational effort. The study recommended that early identification of postpartum blues leading factors by nurses and medical team, put effective management strategies for preventing and dealing with these predisposing factors by administrative department, increase awareness of both mothers and nurses about life style modification through posters, educational programs and mass media, more and further research needs to be done on the connection between postpartum blues and diet, Particularly the junk food