Psychiatr. praxi. 2013;14(1):26-29

Incidence of depressive symptoms in the postpartum period

MUDr.Ľubomíra Izáková, PhD.¹, MUDr.Marína Borovská¹, MUDr.Beata Baloghová¹, MUDr.Alexandra Krištúfková²

¹ Psychiatrická klinika LF UK a UN Bratislava, Nemocnica Staré Mesto

² I. gynekologicko-pôrodnícka klinika LF UK a UN Bratislava, Nemocnica sv. Cyrila a Metoda

Objective: Find an incidence of depressive symptoms among women in the postpartum period.

Method: The analysis included 50 mothers, who completely fill out questionnaires at the last gynecologist visit before childbirth, at

4th–6th day after delivery and at the end of puerperium.

Results: The average score at Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale did not reach values indicative of depressive disorder. The values indicative

for depression occurred in the postpartum period and after puerperium consistently about plus 8 %. There were no differences

when comparing the average values obtained on the Visual Analogue Mood Scale, although the presence of depressive symptoms

reported at the 4th–6th day after delivery increased about 8 % and at the end of puerperium about 14 %.

Conclusion: The study showed a low prevalence of depressive symptoms in the early postpartum period. The characteristics of the study

group suggests protective role of certain demographic and clinical factors in the etiology of postpartum blues.

Keywords: postpartum blues, postpartum depression, Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, Visual Analogue Mood Scale

Published: December 1, 2012  Show citation