POSTNATAL DEPRESSION AND ITS COMPARISON WITH THE GENDER OF NEWBORN IN

4^TH PREGNANCY

ABSTRACT

Aims: The present research was aimed to study the postnatal depression in pregnant mothers and to find out its association with the gender of the newborn in 4^th pregnancy.

Subjects and Methods: Cohort research design with purposive sampling technique was used. The sample comprised of 500 pregnant mothers with 3 alive female issues were taken from the department of gynecology and obstetrics, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore. The assessment tools included a consent form, demographic questionnaire, Siddique Shah Depression Scale, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and DSM-IV-TR’s criteria of depression. The subjects were divided in two groups after 4^th delivery. Group I included mothers with female issue and group II mothers who gave birth to male issue. Assessment was completed in two phases firstly during the last trimester, and then within 16 to 27 days after delivery.

Results: Results indicated that there was insignificant mean difference in depression scores of both groups at phase one. However, the group I showed significantly high mean score than group II at phase two. The results support that the birth of female child increases the likelihood of post natal depression. The results are discussed in the light of previous literature.