First Time Mothers Experiencing Post Natal Depression

Running head:NURSING
First Time Mothers Experiencing Post Natal Depression
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

NURSING1
Introduction
Being a mother is draining and hard, and it has significant impact on the physical and
psychological well-beings of women. Postnatal depression is a common in issue in women all
around the world from different cultures (Cust 2016). Around 10-15% of women suffer from
postpartum depression (Haga et al. 2012) and often this has been attributed to lack of social
support and feeling isolated (Cust 2016).
The aim of this assignment is to highlight the factors that affect the incidence of
postpartum depression in first-time mothers and the possible interventions that can be
administered to help them combat this.
The supporting literature has been collected from the database CINAHL by searching
specific keywords. The detailed search strategy has been elucidated in Appendix A. Two of
the included studies consisted on qualitative data, while other two provided quantitative data.
The sample size of the selected studies varied from 12 to 180.
The PICO question was ‘What are the factors that precipitate to postnatal depression in first
time mothers and what are the social support interventions in order to reduce the incidence?’
P (Population): The population included first time mothers as well as first-time pregnant
women in their late pregnancy (third trimester)
I (Intervention): Social support interventions were administered to the intervention group.
C (Control): The control group did not receive social support intervention
O (Outcome): Improved mental health status for the participants was the desired outcome.

NURSING2
Discussion
The study by Haga et al. (2012) aimed to understand why the transition to
motherhood was psychologically difficult for some mothers and positive experience for
others. The study was an open-ended interview which provided qualitative data about the
experience of 12 participants. The findings suggested that the women’s approach to
motherhood largely affected how they felt mentally. Women often feel differently about the
transition to motherhood. This is largely affected how they feel mentally about the concept.
Social support and breastfeeding usually showed a positive impact on the postnatal
depressive symptoms. The limitation of this study included the fact that the interviewer was
the same age and gender as the participants which may have altered their responses to come
off as socially desirable. As this was a qualitative study, the focus was not the generalizability
of the study.
In the study by Prelog et al. (2019) aimed to assess the risk of postpartum depression
in women who were on the third trimester of their first pregnancy The sample consisted of
156 participants who were a part of a childbirth preparation program. They were assessed a
series of instruments as Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) and others. The
results suggested that 28 out of the 156 participants were at risk of depression in their last
trimester while 25 of them were at risk of depression. It was observed that anxiety during
pregnancy may signify the risk of postpartum depression in women. So, this sort of
assessment may be helpful in taking necessary precautions in women who are vulnerable.
The limitation of this study is that the participants were highly educated women from urban
environment which is likely not the representative of Slovenian population. Hence the studies
cannot be generalized to a large extent.
The study by Cust (2016) aimed to estimate the effects of peer support for reducing
postpartum depression. This was a controlled trial where the intervention group got one-to-