Postnatal Depression: Midwives' and Nurses' Knowledge and Practices

Purpose: This was a descriptive investigation to evaluate the information and practice of midwives and nurses working in primary health services regarding post natal depression. Material and Methods: The sample of the study comprises 302 midwives and nurses employed in health centers in Ankara. The data were collected using a questionnaire. In the evaluation of the data, percentage and Pearson chi square tests were used. Results: According to the results of the investigation, majority of participants rated their information on post natal depression as moderate or low level. It has been established that the majority of participants do not know the definition of depression (84.4%), risk factors for it (73.4%) and the methods of diagnosing it (72.2%). The majority of the nurses and midwives (75.5%) stated that services for evaluating the psychological state of mothers are not offered in the health centers where they are employed. Conclusion: The findings of our study demonstrate that the information and practice of nurses and midwives are not at the expected level. It may be recommended that the awareness of the midwives and nurses is enhanced by informing on the subject for diagnosing and suitable intervention on PND in early period.