Maternal Postpartum Depression

Pregnancy and childbirth are major and important events in a life of a woman. Giving birth to a child is a life changing and challenging incident for every mother. The primary aim of the present study was to check the prevalence of postpartum depression in semi-urban and rural areas and to see how delivery type and gender of a born child is effective in developing postpartum depression. The study was conducted on 200 postpartum women. Postpartum Depression Screening Scale (Cheryl Tatano Beck and Robert K Gable) was used for determining the postpartum depression. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and comparison done with the t-test. Results show that postpartum depression does not differ among mothers with natural delivery and mothers with caesarean delivery. Mothers having female child experience more sleeping or eating disturbances, anxiety and insecurity feeling, emotional lability, mental confusion, loss of self and guilt than mothers having male child. The practical implications have been discussed in light of the research findings. This includes a need for a psychological counselor in maternity homes or clinics and beyond that there is a strong need for awareness in families about postpartum depression.