To Identify the Level of Postnatal Depression among Postnatal Mothers with Modified Edinburgh Post-Natal Depression Scale

It is said that a woman is complete only after she becomes a mother to a baby. The birth of the baby is the most celebrated event in a family. Though it is the happiest moment for the family members as well as the mother, the journey of pregnancy and motherhood is very challenging. Pregnancy brings about many physical and mental changes in the woman. Tiredness and exhausation, sexual problems, abdominal pain, backache are some of the common problems that a women experiences after a childbirth. Post-natal depression is one of the common but a serious issue faced by the women after a few weeks or months of the delivery. Post- natal depression can bring about anxiety in the mother leading to low self- confidence and self -esteem. This study was conducted to identify the level of postnatal depression among postnatal mothers with modified Edinburgh post- natal depression scalefrom selected maternity hospitals, Kolhapur. The study followed a Non experimental, Descriptive research design. Objectives: To identify the level of postnatal depression among postnatal mothers with modified Edinburgh post- natal depression scale and also to find out an association between postnatal depression among postnatal mothers with their selected socio-demographic variables. Material and Method: The population of this study was postnatal mothers admitted in Dr. D. Y. Patil Medical College Hospital and Research Institute Kolhapur. Non- probability convenient sampling method was used to collect 100 samples. Post-natal mothers who were willing to participate and who have completed 7th post-natal day were included in the study.The data was collected by using socio demographic data and Modified Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale to identify the level of postnatal depression. The data collection period was taken from 11/07/2021 to 19/07/2021. Reliability of Modified Edinburgh Postnatal Depression scale is checked by using Crombach?s alpha. Results: The result showed that, in majority of the postnatal mothers (76%) was having moderate level of postnatal depression and minimum (7%) were having severe postnatal depression and (17%) were mild postnatal depression. Conclusion: The present study reveals that majority of postnatal mothers had moderate level of postnatal depression. There is significant association between level of postnatal depression among postnatal mothers with their selected socio-demographic variables. Therefor it is concluded that there is need to prevention of postnatal depression among postnatal mothers by providing informational booklet.