Postpartum depression and suicidal ideation in new mothers with hearing loss: Perceived social support as a...

To explore postpartum depression as a predictor of suicidal ideation and to find if perceived social support had a moderator effect in this scenario among new mothers with hearing loss.

The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from March to September 2018 in Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Jhelum and Sialkot Cities of Pakistan. New mothers with hearing loss (HL) and those without hearing loss were recruited from maternity clinics 2 to 6 weeks after the delivery. Standardised tools were used to measure postpartum depression, perceived social support and suicidal ideation among the subjects. Data was analysed using SPSS 21.

Of the 547subjects, 272(49.7%) were those with hearing loss and 275(50.3%) were without hearing loss. Odd ratio showed that mothers with hearing loss were 1.97 times more likely to exhibit postpartum depression compared to those without hearing loss, whereas participants with HL were 1.08 times more likely to be at risk of having suicidal behaviours compared to those without hearing loss. On the other hand, those without hearing loss were 0.97 times higher on social support. Postpartum depression was a positive predictor (p<0.001) whereas perceived social support negatively (p<0.001) predicted the suicidal ideation of new mothers with hearing loss. The interaction of postpartum depression and perceived social support negatively affected (<0.001) suicidal behaviour.

Perceived social support appeared to lower the probability of postpartum depression and suicidal ideation among mothers with hearing loss.