Prevalence and risk factors of postnatal depression among women attending antenatal courses

Aims - Postnatal depression, the most frequent complication occurring after pregnancy, is often not recognized. The prevalence of postnatal depression is currently considered to be 10-15% in western countries. A wide range of risk factors related to postnatal depression were researched in international studies. Our aim was to evaluate the risk factors and their frequency in a women population of Bergamo Province and compare the results with findings of international literature. Methods - 595 women taking part to antenatal courses in three hospitals in Bergamo Province were screened for Postnatal Depression using EPDS and clinical interview. Prevalence and possible psychosocial risk factors data were collected and subsequently analysed and compared with literature findings. Results - Thirty six (7.1%) women of our sample had postnatal depression. Depressed mood and depression during pregnancy, anxiety during pregnancy, poor social support, recent life events, a history of depression or other psychiatric history, presence of maternity blues were the strongest predictors of postnatal depression in our sample. Conclusions - The Psychosocial risk factors emerged from our study are substantially the same indicated by international studies, on the contrary prevalence is a little lower. This result may be explained considering that our women sample wasn't completely representative of general population.