Prevalence of Depression and Suicidal Ideation among Postpartum Women in Benin City, Southern Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Postpartum depression is a global health challenge resulting in adverse pregnancy outcomes like suicide and infanticide thereby posing significant risks to mothers, babies, families, and communities. This study objective was to assess the prevalence of postpartum depression and suicidal ideation among postpartum women in order to raise awareness on need to promote early detection and initiation of treatment.

Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was carried out among 480 nursing mothers attending the postnatal clinic in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Edo State. Self-administered semi-structured questionnaire were administered to nursing mothers attending post-natal clinics selected using systematic sampling technique utilised for the study. Depression was assessed using the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale. Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. 0. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.050 and 95% confidence interval.

Results: Mean age of respondents studied was 31.3 ± 5.7 years; with mean parity of 2.7 ± 1.1 children. All respondent 480 (100.0%) and 354 (73.7) heard of the term depression and suicidal ideation respectively. Majority of the respondents 81.9% (n=393) had short-lived depressive symptoms, 12.1% (n=58) had discomforting symptoms, and 6.0% (n=29) had a high likelihood of being depressed. The prevalence of depression was 6.0% while 9.8% of mothers had suicidal ideation. Suicidal ideation was statistically and significantly associated among respondents who were currently diagnosed with depression compared to those who were not depressed (p = 0.016). Finally, the association between current diagnosis of depression and previous diagnosis of depression was statistically significant (p < 0.001)

Conclusion: The prevalence of depression and suicidal ideation among postpartum women in the study was low. There is a growing need to raise awareness on postpartum depression and suicidal ideation with establishment of support groups and specialised centres for the management.