Postpartum Depression after Vaginal Delivery and Emergency Cesarean Section(CS) in Primigravida Women

Introduction: Postpartum depression is a common mood disorder in the reproductive periods of women which can have negative effects on the mental health of the family and cognitive and emotional development of the baby. Therefore, diagnosing effective factors is important for preventting postpartum depression. The purpose of this study was to compare the postpartum depression after vaginal delivery and emergency CS in primigravida women in the Hospital of Gonabad in 2003.

Materials & Methods: This research  is an analytic-descriptive study which has been done in obstetrics ward. 52 primigravida women with term and normal pregnancy and without history of infertility, psychiatric  disorder,  chronic disorder, and severe stress in the past 6 months were selected by purposive sampling method. Data were gathered by questionnaires, including personal charateristics, social support scale, quality of relationships with the husband, and General Health Questionnaire(GHQ). After delivery, the samples were put into two groups, normal delivery and emergency CS. Audinburg postpartum depression scale was completed on the 45th day after birth in the mentioned groups.

Results: Data analysis indicated that postpartum depression score in the emergency CS group was higher than vaginal delivery group (10.84 vs 7.84), and there was a significant difference between them (p=0.039). Also, there was a significant difference between postpartum depression score and quality of relationship with the husband (p=0.002)and GHQ (p=0.001).

Conclusion: Finally these findings showed that although depression score in the two groups was lower than the threshold of 13, the emergency CS group had a higher score and due to stress  of surgery, they they would be more susceptible to obvious depression  in the future. Therefore, avoiding unnecessary CS and also using strategies  for decreasing postpartum depression are suggested.