Post-Partum Depression in the Community: a Qualitative Study From Rural South India

R.J.S. Savarimuthu, P. Ezhilarasu, H. Charles, B. Antonisamy, S. Kurian and K.S. Jacob
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R.J.S. Savarimuthu: Department of Psychiatric Nursing, College of Nursing, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
P. Ezhilarasu: Department of Surgical Nursing, College of Nursing, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
H. Charles: Department of Psychiatric Nursing, College of Nursing, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
B. Antonisamy: Department of Biostatistics, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
S. Kurian: Department of Psychiatry, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
K.S. Jacob: Department of Psychiatry, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India, ksjacob@cmcvellore.ac.in

International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2010, vol. 56, issue 1, 94-102

Abstract: Background: Post-partum depression, although heterogeneous, is often considered a medical disease when viewed from the biomedical perspective. However, recent reports from the Indian subcontinent have documented psychosocial causal factors. Method: This study employed qualitative methodology in a representative sample of women in rural South India. Women in the post-partum period were assessed using the Tamil versions of the Short Explanatory Model Interview, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and a semi-structured interview to diagnose ICD 10 depression. Socio-demographic and clinical details were also recorded. Results: Some 137 women were recruited and assessed, of these, 26.3% were diagnosed to have post-partum depression. The following factors were associated with post-partum depression after adjusting for age and education: age less than 20 or over 30 years, schooling less than five years, thoughts of aborting current pregnancy, unhappy marriage, physical abuse during current pregnancy and after childbirth, husband’s use of alcohol, girl child delivered in the absence of living boys and a preference for a boy, low birth weight, and a family history of depression. Post-partum depression was also associated with an increased number of causal models of illness, a number of non-medical models, treatment models and non-medical treatment models. Conclusion: Many social and cultural factors have a major impact on post-partum depression. Post-partum depression, when viewed from a biomedical framework, fails to acknowledge the role of context in the production of emotional distress in the post-partum period.

Keywords: post-partum depression; India (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:56:y:2010:i:1:p:94-102

DOI: 10.1177/0020764008097756

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