The effect of education given to the primiparous pregnant women on postpartum depression

Abstract

Objective: In order to protect the health of mother and her infant, it is important to prevent postpartum depression, to diagnose it earlier and to supply the necessary treatment. One of the interventions aimed at preventing postpartum depression is education studies. This is a experimental study with control group which was conducted in order to determine the effect of Postpartum Preparedness Education given to the primiparous pregnant women on postpartum depression risk. Material and Methods: The study sample consisted of 182 women (97 in control group and 85 in intervention group). Ethics Committee Approval was acquired for the study and informed consent was obtained from the women. The women in the intervention group were given Postpartum Preparedness Education between the 28th and 32nd gestational weeks. Chi-square, Fisher's Exact, MC Pearson, Student's t and Mann Whitney U tests were used in order to analyze the data. Results: It was determined that total depression score of women in intervention group (53.0±16.7) is lower than that of women in control group (61.5±22.3) and the difference between the two groups is significant (p<0.05). In addition, while there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of sub dimensions such as selfharm, sleeping and eating disorders (p>0.05), depression score of women in intervention group were much lower in terms of sub dimensions such as mood changes, guiltiness and anxiety (p<0.05). It was also found that depression scores of women in intervention group who live in rural area, whose education level is secondary school or less, who don't work, who have low-income status and who are 23 years old or younger were lower than those of control group and the difference between the groups was significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: As a result, it can be said that Postpartum Preparedness Education given to the pregnant women is effective on postpartum depression risk.