Difference in gender and childbirth costs and their association with postpartum depression

Abstract

Objectives: Pregnancy and childbirth are physiological events and they are pleasant in most cases although they are occasionally associated with complications that can be dangerous for the mother and the infant if left unattended. The child’s gender can have emotional-psychological, economic, social, and normative dimensions for different people. Therefore, the present study was done to investigate the difference in gender and the costs of childbirth and evaluate their association with postpartum depression. Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study included 260 primiparous women as the sample who were selected by the convenient-nonprobability sampling method. Data collection tools included the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Questionnaire and forms related to demographic information, infant gender, and the like, which were completed through interviews. Results: In this study, 260 women were evaluated after delivery, and the prevalence of postpartum depression was 56.9%. There was a statistically significant relationship between postpartum depression and unwanted pregnancy, delivery method, weeks of pregnancy, social and economic costs of having a child, and gender. However, no significant relationship was found between postpartum depression and maternal aging, and the individual costs of having a child. Conclusions: Postpartum depression has a high prevalence in our society in which almost one mother out of two mothers is involved with depression problems, which can affect the health of the mother, her infant, and the whole family. Therefore, it seems that postpartum depression should be considered as an essential component of postpartum care.