Postpartum depression literacy among pregnant women

Postpartum depression literacy is defined as ‘knowledge and beliefs about postpartum depression which aid its recognition, management or prevention’. The purpose of this study was to understand postpartum depression literacy in pregnant women.

A cross-sectional study was conducted with a convenient sample of pregnant women in Tehran, Iran. Participants completed a demographic and clinical questionnaire and the postpartum depression literacy scale (PoDLiS). The data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.0.

In all 388 pregnant women participated in the study. The mean postpartum depression literacy for participants was 3.78 (SD =0.39). According to the dimensions of postpartum depression literacy, the highest mean score was for knowledge of self-care activities 4.53 (SD= 0.55) and the lowest for beliefs about professional help available 2.50 (SD = 1.10). The results of independent t test and one-way ANOVA showed that postpartum depression literacy significantly was associated with education (P<0.001), occupational status (P=0.001), family history of mental disorders (P=0.047), and source of seeking information about postpartum depression (P=0.005).

The findings suggest that pregnant women had a moderate level of postpartum depression literacy. It seems that educational interventions to be effective in promoting women’s mental health literacy and ultimately reducing postpartum depression.