Evaluation of Maternal Postpartum Depressive Emotional Disorders and Determination of Their Effects on Breastfeeding

INTRODUCTION: Maternal depressive changes in postpartum period are important for mother, infant and community health. The clinical use of screening tests developed for postpartum depression is recommended for prevention of disease, early diagnosis and treatment of patients.The aims of this study are to evaluate the effective risk factors on postpartum depressive emotional disorders in mothers and to evaluate the effects of depressive emotional disorders on breastfeeding.
METHODS: Between April 2018 and October 2018, mothers who gave birth in our hospital and who agreed to participate in the study and their babies were included. Approval was obtained from the local ethics committee for this study. Age of mothers, numbers of pregnancies and births, forms of birth, financial conditions, education levels, partner supports, genders of infants, birth weights and gestational weeks, the body weight of infants at the time of application, feeding patterns and whether or not hospitalizations were recorded. All mothers were screened for postpartum depression by EPDS test.
RESULTS: 100 mother-infant couples participated in the study. Median ages of mothers was 29 (19-39) and spontaneous vaginal birth rate was 48%. The median weight of the infants was 3300 g (1700 g - 4500 g) and gestational weeks were median 38 weeks (34 weeks - 41 weeks). There was a statistically significant positive correlation between the EPDS score of more than 10 and maternal age, feeding of breast milk, the history of loss of pregnancy and the hospitalization of the baby. It was found that 48 (82.7%) of 58 mothers with EPDS score less than 10 had only breast milk and 27 (64.2%) of 42 mothers with EPDS score of 10 or higher fed their babies only with breast milk. This difference was statistically significant (p = 0.035).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The prediction of individuals at risk for postpartum depression is important for providing early and strong psychosocial support to these mothers. Prevention of postpartum depression will increase the feeding rate of infants with breast milk.