Postpartum depression: women's help‐seeking behaviour and perceptions of cause

Abstract

Research on postnatal depression has largely concentrated on investigating its possible causes. There have been few attempts to examine women's own perceptions and experiences of the condition or to explore the implications which these might have for help seeking and professional intervention. This paper reports on the experiences of depression of a sample of 60 first-time mothers. For the purposes of the study, depression was defined as the experience of depressed mood for a period of at least 2 weeks at some stage during the first 9 months postpartum. On this definition, depression was reported by a high proportion of the mothers (63%) and was found to be of early onset and lengthy duration. The majority of depressed mothers did not seek help from any source and only a quarter of them consulted a health professional. These low rates of consultation are explained in terms of mothers' perceptions of the cause of their depression, their ideas about appropriate solutions and their reluctance to admit to experiencing emotional difficulties. The implications of the study for intervention by health professionals are discussed.

Seeking help for perinatal psychological distress: a meta-synthesis of women’s experiences

“…Nine explored this concept in minority groups living in the UK (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23). Three studies had mixed samples (24)(25)(26), five had predominantly White samples (27-31) and seven did not report ethnicity (32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38).…”

Stressful Events During Pregnancy and Postpartum Depressive Symptoms

“…55,56 Our second finding contributes to the nascent literature on the association of stressors and seeking help for PDS. Examples of barriers to help seeking for depressive symptoms in the literature include perception that primary health care providers lack training and skills in mental health, 9,10,[57][58][59] lack of insight into patient's state-of-mood, 11 stigma, 11,60,61 and lack of services. 62 The prevalence of financial-related stressors, particularly ''partner lost job'' and the association between mothers with financial-related stressors and seeking help for PDS both increased in the 2009-2010 PRAMS compared with 2007-2008 reports.…”

Assessment acting as intervention: findings from a study of perinatal psychosocial assessment

“…However, detailed transcription demonstrated signs of the researcher being a "supportive and engaged listener" (Lambertz, 2011), suggesting similarities between the interviewer style and interventions such as listening visits, which have been recommended for the pregnant population (Clement, 1995;National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, 2007). Transcription also demonstrated 'empathic receipts' to women's distress, which is critical given women's potential fears of labelling and unwanted professional involvement in the perinatal period (McIntosh, 1993).…”