the underlying factors for postpartum depression severity in iran: a single-center study

Objective: postpartum depression (ppd) is a common mental disorder among women and it can cause negative consequences for them, children, and families; however, accurate statistics and underlying factors on ppd and its severity are not available in iran. materials and methods: in this cross-sectional study, 200 women referred to an academic hospital for normal vaginal delivery, which had a full-term and single pregnancy and had passed between 6 weeks and 6 months of delivery, were selected by convenience sampling methods. the edinburgh depression inventory and the checklist for demographic information of mothers were completed. results: the prevalence of postpartum depression was 11.0% and 68.2% of mothers had a mild type. 31.8% had a history of depression. there was a significant relationship between the severity of postpartum depression in women with a previous history of depression (p = 0.012). between postpartum depression and maternal age (p = 0.115), body mass index at delivery (p = 0.571), number of pregnancies (p = 0.693), number of deliveries (p = 0.446), number of abortions (p = 0.424), willing or unwilling pregnancy (p = 0.451), neonatal sex (p = 0.533), history of neonatal hospitalization (p = 0.725), previous history disease (p = 0.725) was no statistical association. conclusion: the prevalence of ppd was approximately 11%, and there was a significant association between postpartum depression severity and a history of depression physicians and policymakers should consider early screening for ppd, especially among women with previous depression.