Postpartum Depression and Health: Role of Perceived Social Support among Pakistani Women

Postpartum depression (PPD) can predispose to physical and mental health problems in Pakistani women. However, PPD is associated with health and perceived social support, yet their causal relationship is unclear. Therefore, this study intended to evaluate the association of PPD with insomnia, mental health, and physical health. The convenience sampling technique was used to collect data from 320 (52.8%) young and middle-aged postpartum women, at the outpatient departments of obstetrics and gynecology of the Government Maula Bakhsh Hospital, District Head Quarter in Sargodha, Pakistan. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, patient health questionnaire, and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support were used to measure study variables. The results revealed a significant positive relationship between PPD and physical health (r = 0.45, p = 0.001), negative relationships with insomnia (r = -0.24, p < 0.001), and perceived social support (r = -0.38, p = 0.001). Results further confirmed that perceived social support played a moderating role (β = 0.97, p = 0.01) in the relationship between PPD and mental health among Pakistani women. This study concluded that perceived social support has an important role in PPD and the health of Pakistani women. The study also concluded that poor health is a risk indicator for the identification of aid in the early stages of postpartum among Pakistani women.