Prevalence of and factors influencing postnatal depression in a rural community in South Africa

Abstract

BackgroundKnowledge about postnatal depression (PND) and associated risk factors which influence the development of PND is vital for early detection, intervention and prevention.SettingThe study was conducted in primary health care clinics (PHC) in the Witzenberg subdistrict, a rural community in South Africa.ObjectivesObjectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of PND and to identify the contributing risk factors associated with PND.MethodsA descriptive cross sectional research design with a quantitative approach was applied. The target population was mothers, 18 years and older. A convenience sampling method was used to select a sample of 159 (10%) from a population of 1605 live births. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), two validated self-rating questionnaires, including a questionnaire based on demographical, psychosocial and obstetrical data, were applied. The data was analysed using various statistical tests to determine statistical associations between variables using a 95% confidence interval.ResultsPND was a serious health problem with 50.3% of the mothers who suffered from PND. A BDI analysis showed that of the participants who had PND, 28.8% was severe, 48.8% moderate and 22.5% mild. Factors influencing the development of PND included most participants (63.5%) were unmarried, 61.3% were unemployed and the majority (53.8%) had a history of a psychiatric illness. Significant associations between PND and unplanned and unwelcome babies (p < 0.01); partner relationship (p < 0.01); were identified.ConclusionPrevention, early detection, appropriate referral and treatment of PND are critical in managing maternal, child and family well-being.

Antenatal and Postpartum Depression: Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors among Adolescents’ in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

“…Previous studies on antenatal and postpartum depression in South Africa and other sub-Saharan Africa studies included adolescent and adult women as participants [27,33,34,42,43]. The current study found a lower prevalence of antenatal and postpartum depression among the participants compared to previous South African and other sub-Saharan studies [27,33,34,42,43].…”

“…Depression Research and Treatment surveys [22,[26][27][28][29][30][31]. Research in both urban and rural areas of South Africa has shown that the EPDS is a validated screening instrument [32][33][34][35][36], whereas other sub-Saharan countries have also validated the EPDS to screen for depression during and after pregnancy [19,[32][33][34][35]. The EPDS comprises ten self-report items that evaluate depressive symptoms in the past seven days.…”

Addressing the interaction between food insecurity, perinatal depression and informal work: findings of a cross-sectional survey among informal women workers with young children in South Africa.

“…The depression risk among our population was lower than has been found in several other studies in SA [6,7,18], and was confirmed using two different validated screening tools for depression. This relatively low depression risk was found despite women living in contexts of social and economic adversity and food insecurity, that are known to be associated with high rates of depression [11].…”

“…Perinatal depression is highly prevalent in lowincome countries, especially in high poverty settings [2][3][4]. In South Africa (SA) estimated rates of depression in the antenatal period range from 22-47% [5,6], and may be as high as 50% during the postnatal period [7]. Depression contributes heavily to the overall disease burden in SA [8].…”

Addressing the interaction between food insecurity, depression risk and informal work: findings of a cross-sectional survey among informal women workers with young children in South Africa.

“…Depression in pregnancy and after childbirth is highly prevalent in lowincome countries, especially in high poverty settings [2][3][4]. In South Africa (SA) estimated rates of depression in the antenatal period range from 22% to 47% [5][6][7], and several studies suggest that about one-third of postnatal women are at high risk of depression [8][9][10][11]. Depression contributes heavily to the overall disease burden in SA [12], and recent evidence suggests that perinatal anxiety disorders are also prevalent [13].…”