Proportion and Factors of Postpartum Depression Among Cesarean Section Versus Vaginal Deliveries: Institutional Based Cross-Sectional Study

Background: postpartum depression is a severe health problem which affects both developing and developed countries. It is one of the diseases which affect women after the delivery of their baby and difficult to manage because of the presence of postpartum blues. Objective: To assess the proportion and factors of postpartum depression following normal vaginal deliveries and cesarean section among postnatal women at Finoteselam Hospital, April 05, 2018–May 20, 2018. Result: The proportion of postpartum depression among postpartum women was 13% of which 9.1% and 3.9% for vaginal and cesarean delivery respectively. In this study; previous history of postpartum depression [AOR=5.498 (1.843-16.405)], no domestic violence [AOR=0.250 (0.065-0.956)], women who faced negative life event [AOR=17.322 (4.753-63.135)], previous history of two abortion [AOR=0.160 (0.034-0.746). Previous history of mental illness, [AOR=.187 (0.053-0.659)], being at the level of secondary education [AOR=8.818 (1.596-48.716)] and husband support during pregnancy [AOR=.048 (.014-.164)] had an association with postpartum depression. All the individual Edinburgh postnatal depression scale score mean values were higher for the cesarean group which was 6.97 when compared to the vaginal delivery group was 5.865. Conclusion: Prevalence of postnatal depression was comparably high in vaginal deliveries compared to cesarean sections. By revealing the prevalence and factors that determine postpartum depression, this study recommended interventions like Integration of mental health service with existing maternal health care and health institutions to prevent Postpartum depression at Finoteselam Hospital.