University Publications

Background: Postpartum Depression is one of the major psychological disorders worldwide that affects both mothers and infants. For prevention and screening to be more effective, a fuller understanding of postpartum depression risk factors is necessary. Aim: This study aimed to identify factors associated with postpartum depression among women. Methods: This was a hospital –based cross-sectional which was carried out in two maternity hospitals. It included (142) participants and was selected through systematic sampling method .Edinburgh Postnatal depression scale was used to identify mothers at risk of postnatal depression. A score of ≥14 was considered as positive for depressive symptom and a standardized administered questionnaire and data were analyzed by the Statistical Package of Social Sciences, version 25 and a significance test was checked by chi-square test, data were presented in form of tables and cross tabulations Results:(49%) is the prevalence of common risk factors of postpartum depression ,33.8 % of the participants were aged between 20 and 24 years, 34.5% were university graduates , 50.75 had wanted and un planned pregnancy ,54.9%multiparity ,20.4 had history of family depression , 57% received support from their husband and almost 97.2% had married .Moreover ,postpartum depression was found to be strong statistically association between marital status and family history of postpartum depression (p-value 0.00).Conclusion: This study identified certain factors that have been associated with postpartum depression ( socio ‑demographic factors as :age of women at the time of delivery, lower socio-economic status , women level of education .Obstetric factors as parity ,un planned current pregnancy and type of delivery, and psychological risk factors : lack of social support and history of family depression. In order to prevent postpartum depression, our findings recommend that pregnant women's mental health be tracked and that health care service—particularly supportive birth care—be improved. Key words: Postpartum depression, Risk factors, Women