Prevalence of Postpartum Depression and Self-harming Ideation among Postnatal Mothers in Selected MOH Areas in the Western Province, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a form of depression that occurs in a postnatal mother following childbirth. Stati sti cs in 2018 esti mated that 17.7% of mothers experience PPD globally with a prevalence ranging from 7-33% in Asian countries. In South Asia, the reported prevalence ranges from 5-49%. A few studies have assessed its prevalence, and no research has been conducted in MOH areas of the Western Province. Additi onally, there is limited focus on assessing self-harming ideati on in mothers following delivery in Sri Lanka. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of PPD and self-harming ideati on among postnatal mothers in selected MOH areas in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. Mothers with PPD between 1 to 6 months postpartum were identi fi ed using a validated screening tool, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EDPS) with a cut-off mark of 9 or more through an intervieweradministered questi onnaire. Self-harming ideati on was assessed through the 10th questi on in the EDPS ‘The thoughts of harming myself has occurred to me’. A total of 422 mothers, selected using simple random sampling from 10 MOH areas across all three districts in the Western Province, parti cipated in the study, with a 100% response rate. PPD was evident in 97 mothers out of 422 scoring 9 or more on EDPS highlighti ng a prevalence of 22.99%. Additi onally, 35 mothers (8.29%) out of 422 were identi fi ed as having self-harming thoughts. Among these, 18 (51.42%) of mothers experienced such thoughts ‘hardly ever’, 15 (42.85%) ‘someti mes’, and 2 (5.71%) ‘quite oft en’. Approximately, one in fi ve mothers experience PPD and one in thirteen mothers experience selfharming ideati on. This emphasizes the signifi cance of addressing postnatal maternal health focusing on prenatal and postnatal care.