Postpartum Blues and Late Postpartum Depressive Symptoms at Her Royal Highness Princess Mahachakri Sirindhorn Medical Center

Abstract

Objectives: To identify association between postpartum blue and late postpartum depressive symptoms (LPDS) and incidence of both conditions with other risk factors of LPDS at Her Royal Highness Princess Mahachakri Sirindhorn Medical Center. Materials and Methods: Case-control study where 128 mothers were assigned to complete Thai Edinburgh Postnatal Depressive Scale (Thai EPDS) at 2 days and 6 weeks postpartum to detect postpartum blues and LPDS, respectively. Risk factors of LPDS were assessed using bivariate analysis. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify the association between postpartum blues and LPDS along with other risk factors of LPDS. Results: Majority of participants in this study were aged between 26 - 35 years old (52.4%), and multiparous women (67.2%) accounting more than nulliparous women (32.8%). Postpartum blues was significantly associated with LPDS with adjusted odds ratio (OR) 7.16 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.87-27.39). The incidence of postpartum blues was 24.2% while the incidence of LPDS was 15.6%. Other significant risk factors were lack of support in newborn care with aOR of 4.48 (95% CI 1.31-15.33), breastmilk inadequacy with aOR of 8.62 (95% CI 2.33-31.84) and Bangkok and vicinity habitation with aOR 4.99 (95% CI 1.29-19.28). Conclusion: Postpartum blues are highly associated with late postpartum depressive symptoms and being an early prediction of postpartum depression. © 2023 The Author(s).