Abstract
This study elucidates how factors, such as lifestyle attributes, feelings after discovering their pregnancy, and family relationships of women at the time they were issued a Maternal and Child Health Handbook, affect postpartum depression. A total of 621 women responded to a questionnaire at the time of Maternal and Child Health Handbook issuance. The study used a retrospective longitudinal design to analyze the responses of 410 women who were matched after completing a subsequent postpartum questionnaire. We found that the items "presence of work," "presence of friends willing to provide advice," and "feelings of stress in life when the Maternal and Child Health Handbook was issued" were either significantly correlated with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) score, or that a correlation could be predicted even though this was not significant. The images of fathers as interfering and of mothers as caring were also associated with postpartum depression. It is said to be important to take measures from early pregnancy to prevent postpartum depression from the viewpoint of preventing abuse, and it may be helpful to ask about women's living environments and support frameworks in early pregnancy, perinatal stress, and the environment in which they were brought up, particularly their images of fatherhood and motherhood, and thereby guide them to support. Our study suggests that emphasizing these items during screening and providing support may help prevent postpartum depression and abuse in the future.
