A Clinical Study on the Postpartum Depression

Objectives: Postpartum depression(PPD) is a kind of serious problem which influences on the postpartum woman, her family and infant. It has been known to be caused by many factors and some depression scales have been used to assess the degree of PPD. Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale(EPDS) recently began to be used for screening for PPD.Methods: The subjects were 46 women who admitted for postpartum treatment in Oriental Hospital of Woosuk University from May 2000 to December 2000. In this study, we used EPDS and Beck Depression Inventory(BDI) to assess the degree of PPD, and we researched the related factors of PPD. Results: 13 women(28.3%) in the high risk group by EPDS and 7 women(15.2%) in depression - severe depression group by BDI were diagnosed as PPD among the 46 women. There was significant correlation between Epds score and BDI score. The mean score of EPDS was higher in normal delivery group than caesarean delivery group, higher in primiparae group than multiparae group, and higher in the group who delivered female infants than male infants. But there were not significant differences. And there was not significant correlation between EPDS score and age.Conclusions: These results suggest that PPD is quite frequent at postpartum period and it is necessary to treat for PPD. It is important for clinicians to pay attention to the related factors of PPD as well as to recognize and treat PPD.