Associated Factors and Prevalence of Postpartum Depression and Anxiety Disorders Among Newborn Turkish Mothers

This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of postpartum depression (PPD) and anxiety disorders among postpartum mothers. Additionally, it examined the effect of comorbidity on PPD.

This study included 206 mothers with babies between 0 and 6 weeks of age who visited the pediatric department for routine health checks. First, Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition and demographic data were collected from the participants. Subsequently, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Maternal Attachment Inventory were used to evaluate all mothers.

We found that 6.8% (n=14) of the mothers evaluated had PPD, and 21.4% (n=44) had an anxiety disorder. The most common anxiety disorder was generalized anxiety disorder (16.0%, n=33). The percentage of females with comorbid PPD and anxiety disorder was 3.8%. We then compared the postpartum and non-PPD groups in terms of socio-demographic characteristics and found a significant difference pertaining only to economic status. Socio-economic status was lower in the group with PPD. In addition, social support received during pregnancy was significantly lower in the group with PPD. A history of depression (including peripartum depression) and/or comorbid psychiatric disorders was identified as related to PPD.

This study suggests that anxiety disorders are common among postpartum women and are three times more common than PPD within this group. Furthermore, 57.1% (8/14) of the females in our study with PPD also suffered from an anxiety disorder.