Prevalence Of Postpartum Depressive Symptoms And Associated Factors Among Postpartum Mothers With Children 0-6 Months Of Age At The Greater Accra Regional Hospital

ABSTRACT Background: Postpartum/postnatal depression is a type of mood disorder, which is associated with childbirth but could affect both sexes. Women with postnatal depression can experience disabling symptoms of low mood, irritability, fatigue, insomnia, changes in appetite, anxiety, guilt, inability to cope, feelings of worthlessness and thoughts of suicide. However, epidemiological data on the prevalence of postpartum depression and its associated factors are still unclear in Ghana. The main objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of postpartum depressive symptoms and associated factors among postnatal mothers at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital. Methods: A facility based cross-sectional quantitative study was carried out between June 2018 and July, 2018, involving 124 mothers with children aged between 0-6 months who were attending Child Welfare Clinic (CWC)/postnatal clinic at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital. Simple random sampling (using random number generator software) technique was used to select respondents from CWC register. A structured questionnaire and the Edinburgh postnatal depression scale (EPDS) questionnaire were used for data collection. Descriptive, bivariate analyses (using chi-square ), and a multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to describe important characteristics and examine the predictors of postnatal depression. Results: In all, 124 respondents were recruited for the study. About 4 in 10 (44.4%) of the respondents had depressive symptoms scores classified as high by the EPDS. Loss of a love one recently (AOR=5.44; CI=1.31-22.47, p= 0.019), number of antenatal clinic (ANC) visits the woman had during her recent pregnancy (AOR=61.88; CI=13.5-75.9, p= 0.001), time the woman stayed in the hospital before discharge (AOR=0.28; CI=0.14-0