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Incidence of Postnatal Depression in Malaysian Women
Author(s) -
Kit Lee Kick,
Janet Grace,
Jegasothy Ravindran
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.597
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1447-0756
pISSN - 1341-8076
DOI - 10.1111/j.1447-0756.1997.tb00811.x
Subject(s) - medicine , edinburgh postnatal depression scale , depression (economics) , incidence (geometry) , postnatal care , postpartum depression , demography , obstetrics , pediatrics , pregnancy , psychiatry , anxiety , depressive symptoms , physics , genetics , sociology , biology , optics , economics , macroeconomics
Objective : To determine the incidence of postnatal depression of Malaysias women at 6 week postpartum and a survey of their sociocultural practices. Methods : A hundred and fifty‐four women who were 6 weeks postpartum attending the postnatal clinic between May and July 1995 at Maternal and Child Health Clinic, Seremban, Malaysia. Maternal socio‐demography, depression by Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), postnatal care and practices e.g. pantang larang (prohibited behaviour and practices), diet and partnering were evaluated. Results : Postnatal depression was 3.9%. Indians had the highest rate at 8.5% as compared to Malays (3.0%) and none in Chinese (p < 0.05). There were no demographic differences in the study groups. Average score of EPDS was 4.05 which ranged from 0 to 20. During the confinement 85.7% of women took special diet; 64.3% followed pantang larang and 78.8% had someone to look after them. The incidence of postnatal depression is low in Malaysia at 3.9%. Majority of Malaysian women still observed the traditional postnatal beliefs and practices.