Post-partum maternity 'blues' as a reflection of newborn nursing care in Japan

To investigate the prevalence of post-partum 'blues' in mothers whose babies are cared for in a newborn nursery, compared with mothers providing rooming-in care.

Japanese normal primiparous women were prospectively studied from 1998 to 1999. The newborns of these mothers were managed in the newborn nursery or by rooming-in care. To diagnose maternity 'blues' and 'depression', the Stein's Questionnaire and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale were used.

Ninety-seven and 93 women were managed by newborn nursery care and by rooming-in care, respectively. Of these women, a total of 181 women were considered for analysis. 'Blues' was noted in 31 of 92 mothers (33.7%) receiving newborn nursery care and in 18 of 89 (20.2%) receiving rooming-in care with a significant difference (P<0.05), and in 49 of 181 (27.1%) as a whole. The daily Stein's scores changed significantly during the 10 days post-partum in each group (P<0.0001). Post-partum 'depression' was observed in three mothers (3.4%) in the newborn nursery care group and in four (4.8%) of the rooming-in care group, not a significant difference, and in seven (4.1%) as a whole.

Maternity 'blues' is experienced by 25% or more of Japanese primiparous women delivering healthy babies via uncomplicated delivery. The system of newborn nursery infant care may be a potential causal factor for maternity 'blues', although it should be confirmed by a prospective randomized trial.