Aims:
The purpose of this study was to find out the
association between
perceived social support and
postpartum depression. Study
Design:
This study was a
cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study The
cross-sectional study was carried out in Manisa, a city in western part of
Turkey.
Methodology:
Two hundred eighty seven
postpartum women were included in the study using
stratified sampling from the
records of 11
primary health care centers in Manisa city centre.
Depression and
social support were measured using,
Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and Multidimensional Scale of
Perceived Social Support.
Results:
It was found that the
point prevalence of
post partum depression (
Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale total score >12) was 13.5%.
Smoking,
pregnancy number,
social support from
family and from a significant other predicted
postpartum depression, but baby’s
gender,
family type, perceived
family income,
educational level,
occupation, having a
health insurance,
antenatal care,
unwanted pregnancy and
social support from
friends did not.
Conclusion:
Postpartum depression is a
public health problem in
Turkey and
social support from
family and from a significant other is associated with
postpartum depression. This finding highlights that there is a need to
address this unmet need in
planning interventions. But
prevalence rate of
postpartum depression and differential effects of
risk factors on
postpartum depression vary substantially among countries and regions, this should be taken into consideration when
planning interventions for
postpartum depression.