Postpartum Depression among Mothers Attending the Postnatal Ward in a Tertiary Care Centre: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Postpartum depression remains a common and often overlooked issue, especially in low resource settings like Nepal, and should be detected to address it early to prevent deterioration of maternal mental health further. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of postpartum depression among mothers attending the postnatal ward in a tertiary care centre. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the postnatal ward of a tertiary care centre from 1 March to 30 April 2020 after obtaining ethical approval from the Institutional Review Committee (CMC-IRC/078/079-036). Postnatal mothers who could read and write, were included in this study. Women who were admitted to the hospital after home delivery, had intrauterine fetal death, were severely ill, and were not willing to participate in the study were excluded. A convenience sampling method was used. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale was used to collect the data. Point estimate and 95% Confidence Interval were calculated. Results: Among 274 postnatal mothers, the prevalence of depression was found to be 71 (25.91%) (20.72- 31.10, 95% Confidence Interval). Conclusions: The prevalence of postpartum depression among postnatal mothers in this study was similar to similar studies done in similar settings.