Association between depression and delivery type

Introduction: Depression during pregnancy disturbs daily activities, acceptance of new roles, pregnant woman´s life responsibilities, and pregnancy consequences. The goal of this study is to investigate the association between depression during pregnancy and type of delivery and some personal characteristics. Methods: In this descriptive study, ۱۰ health care centers were randomly selected. The participants included ۳۷۸ pregnant women (۱۰۸ depressed and ۲۷۰ non-depressed). The questionnaire was developed in two phases. The first phase was during pregnancy and included both personal characteristics and Beck II standard depression questionnaire and the second phase was after delivery and included the subjects’ type of delivery. Content validity and Cronbach´s alpha were employed for validity and reliability of the questionnaires, respectively. The data were analyzed with SPSS using Chi-square and Mann Whitney tests, as well as logistic regression model. Results: Frequency of depression in the population studied was ۲۶.۷%. The results showed that there were significant association between depression during pregnancy and type of delivery (P=۰.۰۱), the education of pregnant women (P<۰.۰۰۱) and their spouses’ education (P=۰.۰۰۱), the pregnant women’s occupation (P=۰.۰۴) and their spouses’ job (P=۰.۰۰۹). There was no significant association between depression during pregnancy and the women’ age of pregnancy. Conclusion: The findings of the study suggested to have some instructions in psychic health for midwives and the personnel providing hygienic-iatric services for pregnant women. It is necessary to recognize the mothers susceptible depression and then refering them to psychiligists.

Keywords:

Depression , Pregnancy , Delivery , Depression , Pregnancy , Delivery