Abstract :
Introduction: Pregnancy is the most beautiful and memorable time in a woman’s life. During pregnancy
and even after the birth of a child, women are at an increased risk of experiencing psychological problems.
Aim: Screening of antenatal women for risk of psychological illness and following them postnatal period
for risk of Post Partum Depression.
Materials and Methods: The study has cohort design.150 Antenatal women were screened during their
antenatal visit between 24 weeks up till 36weeks of pregnancy by semi structured questionnaire to screen
high risk women. These women were followed during Post Natal period between 4-8thday and then 4-8
weeks of postnatal period by Edinburgh Post Natal Depression Scale (EDPS) for assessment of Postnatal
Depression.
Result: 31% ANC women were screened as high risk 20% had high EDPS scores at 4-8 days and 8.6% at
4-8weeks. By logistic regression antenatal risk factors were statistically analyzed .1) Higher education level
there is lesser risk 2) residence from rural area had 3.9 times higher risk. 3) who had supportive mother
had 1.3 times lesser risk 4) supportive partner reduced risk by 4.4 times. 5) supportive family reduced risk
by1.7 times 6) Previous history of depression of more than 2wks had 5.4 times higher risk 7) history of
mental health problem in past had 1.5 times higher risk 8) Antenatal women having psychological illness
has 4.29 times higher risk of delivering a neonate with birth weight
Conclusion: Focus also on ante partum psychological risks. It is suggested to integrate mental health to
maternal health care services and train health care givers for screening.
Keyword :
Antenatal risk of psychological illness, Post partum depression, Risk factors for antenatal psychological illness, Risk of post partum depression, Edinburgh post natal, Depression scale.