A Study on the Relationship among Prenatal Emotional Status, Preparation for Delivery, Postpartum Social Support and Postpartum Blues

Abstract

【Purpose: This study was to examine the degree of prenatal emotional status, preparation for delivery, postpartum social support, and postpartum blues and to investigate the relationship of the above variables in postpartum women. Method: The subjects were 131 postpartum women. Selection criteria were women who were 2 to 8 weeks post delivery. After Informed consent was obtained, they were asked to fill out a self-administered questionnaire. The instrument was a Postnatal Depression & Anxiety check list. Result: The mean age of the subjects was 29.3 years, and 63.4% of subjects delivered their children by vaginal birth. 18.3 percent had felt depressed during their pregnancy. The mean score of the postpartum blues was 19.2. 61.8 percent of the subjects had postpartum blues and 8.4 percent experienced postpartum depression. Monthly income was negatively correlated to postpartum blues (r=-.189, p】