2024 Volume 38 Issue 1 Pages 25-35
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine the association between depression/bonding and parenting environment and perinatal high-risk factors among postpartum women in a comprehensive perinatal and maternal health center.
Methods
Health guidance was provided to 625 postpartum women who gave birth between April 2019 and March 2020 at the center at three time points (when discharged from hospital, at the 2-week checkup, and at the 1-month checkup). Responses to the “Childcare Support Checklist”, the “Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) Questionnaire”, and the “Your Feelings toward the Baby (Bonding) Questionnaire” obtained at that time were included in the analysis. The EPDS and bonding questionnaires were taken chronologically and analyzed for their association with 11 child care environment risk items and 12 perinatal high-risk items. To examine factors associated with changes from the baseline to one month later, multiple regression analysis was performed, adjusting for baseline values and number of births experienced as covariates.
Results
The EPDS and bonding questionnaire results improved significantly over time (p for trend<0.0001). However, multifactor analysis showed that the EPDS worsened significantly for the “having a history of psychological counseling or psychiatric treatment” (β=0.77, p=0.006), “unable to consult husband” (β=1.68, p<0.0001) and “unable to consult mother” (β=1.25, p=0.0007) factors. On the other hand, EPDS results significantly improved for “young childbirth” (β=−1.66, p=0.019). Bonding results significantly worsened for the “emergency cesarean section” (β=0.38, p=0.002) and “unable to consult husband” (β=0.47, p=0.017) factors.
Conclusion
The EPDS and bonding questionnaire results for women who gave birth at a comprehensive perinatal center improved naturally up to one month after discharge from the hospital. However, these improvements were inhibited among those with underlying poor mental health and those who had no one in their immediate family to consult. On the other hand, one possible reason for the improvement in depression among young mothers may be the effect of support programs unique to comprehensive perinatal centers.
