Frequency of postpartum depression and its association with breastfeeding: A cross-sectional survey at immunization clinics in Islamabad,Pakistan

Objective: to calculate the point frequency of post-partum depression among mothers. methods: this cross-sectional,quantitative study was conducted at the immunisation clinics of general hospital,islamabad,and tehsil headquarters hospital,kahuta,pakistan,in november 2015,and comprised women aged 18-44 years. primary data collection was done through edinburgh post-natal depression scale questionnaire. spss 20 was used for data analysis. results: there were 434 participants in the study. frequency of post-partum depression was 75(17.3%). the odds of post-partum depression was 2.3times more among non-exclusive breastfeeding mothers,6.6 times more among women with no husband support,6.1 times more among women with no family support,and 1.92 times more among women with youngest female child. conclusion: exclusive breastfeeding had a strong association with post-partum depression. © 2017,pakistan medical association. all rights reserved.