Depression, stress coping and help-seeking of pregnant women

Abstract

It is said that many postpartum mothers are suffered from postpartum depression or maternity blues or child rearing stress. It means that effective intervention for mental and physical health of mothers and children is desired. It is clear that mental health during pregnancy is one of the reasons which leads postpartum depression. It is important for pregnant women as well as pregnant women, to clarify mental health during pregnancy, and to relieve depressive symptoms and reduce stress. The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship among depression, stress coping and help-seeking with 49 pregnant women (average age 31.82 years old). From the results of EPDS, 18% of participants had the possibility of depression. In addition, participants with high scores of EPDS were significantly low in “seeking support for husband” and “seeking support for acquaintance”, and significantly high in “avoidance and giving up” and “concerning for being supported”. As a result of stratified multiple regression analysis, it became clear that “seeking for support of husband” was a factor which influence on depression tendency. As depression symptoms were recognized in about 20% of pregnant women, it was important to relieve the depression of pregnant women. It was suggested that the intervention to increase support-seeking behavior was associated with reduce depressive symptom. It is considered that depression reduction during pregnancy is effective not only for pregnant women but also for postpartum depression prevention.