Screening or Postpartum Depression in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Postnatal Ward with Its Impact on Newborn Care Practices: A Hospital Based Survey

Introduction: Depression is the fourth leading cause of disability and is estimated to rise to second place by the year 2020. Women of child bearing age are at an increased risk of depression, with an even higher risk seen in postpartum period. Maternal depression adversely effects child's functioning in cognitive, social, and developmental areas including failure to thrive, and poor physical and emotional/behaviour development. Aim: To find the prevalence and associated factors of Postpartum Depression (PPD) in mothers with hospital deliveries. Materials and Methods: A hospital based cross-sectional study of 14 months duration was conducted recruiting mothers admitted in the postnatal ward, or having their newborn admitted in neonatal intensive care unit or neonatal intermediate care unit. All these mothers were screened for PPD using Gujarati version of Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). A separate questionnaire was used for assessing newborn care practices and some more factors that might be associated with PPD. Logistic regression applied for finding contributors for PPD. Results: Two hundred and five mothers with a mean age of 25.6 (SD 4.82, range 17-42 years) participated in the study. A total of 48 had abnormal depression scores (23.4%). Mothers not exclusively breast feeding the children were observed to have 12 times higher odds of getting depression. The odds of depression in mother of a child not covered properly are 24 times more than the mother whose child is well covered with clothes. Conclusion: The findings suggest that depression in mothers is associated with poor maternal infant feeding outcomes and care practices including covering the baby. Screening of mothers in early postpartum period is necessary for betterment of mother-baby unit.