Depression among Nigerian women following pregnancy loss

To determine the level of depression in Nigerian women following spontaneous pregnancy loss and the coping strategies used.

A questionnaire survey of 202 Nigerian women who had involuntary pregnancy loss over a 1-year period. The Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale was used to assess the women.

Two-thirds of the pregnancy losses occurred before 20 weeks of gestation and one-third occurred after 20 weeks. The majority of respondents (74.3%) had minimal depressive symptoms (scoring 50-59 on the depression scale), 3% had moderate symptoms (scoring 60-69), and 13.9% had severe symptoms (scoring 70-80). Risk factors for moderate to severe depression included being married, previous pregnancy loss, loss of a male fetus, childlessness, and losses after 20 weeks (P<0.05). Presence of a woman's husband, children, parents and relatives, friends, and religious observance were identified as positive coping strategies.

Most Nigerian women suffer some level of depression following pregnancy loss, with no living children and losses after 20 weeks being the most significant risk factors.