[Postpartum depression and social support]

To ascertain the state of a mother's depression three months after childbirth and to what sort of or to whose social support it is related.

In October 1993, a questionnaire survey was conducted on the attributes, state of depression by Zung Self-rating Depression Scale, and social support of 300 mothers who received health examinations of their 3 to 4 months' old infants at five health centers in Tokyo. Relationship between depression and social support of 256 mothers (rate of valid answer 85.3%) was examined by one-way analysis of variance, Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis.

The depression score averaged 37.3 points, with 73 persons (28.5%) scoring 40 to 47 points (light) and 27 persons (10.5%) scoring 48 or more points (medium level or higher). The following were the variables which individually showed a significant relationship to the depression score after controlling for age, education, number of children, type of family, and whether or not the mother was working: The emotional support score from the husband and his parents, such as the frequency in which the husband "listened to the mother's worries and anxieties" "was attentive or considerate to the mother" and "helped in feeding the child", the frequency in which the husband's parents "could be consulted on worries the mother had about childbirth, child care and child development" and "nursed and played with the child". It was found that the better the state of such support, the less the state of depression. On the other hand, support from the mother's parents, neighbors, and friends had no bearing on depression.

The level of depression of the surveyed group was the same as that of the general female public. Postpartum depression was related to emotional support from the husband and emotional and practical support from the husband's parents. Therefore, from the aspect of preventing depression, we believe it is important that, firstly, the mother and family should understand the importance of support and improve the support by the family, and, secondly, the mother herself should improve her ability to cope.