Abstract:
Background: Pregnancy and childbirth are described as periods of happiness in a women’s life.
Unfortunately, this period has increased the risk for mental health issues. Maternal depression is
the commonest mental health disorder identified, and unlikely to postnatal depression, antenatal
depression has drawn less attention.
Objectives: To describe the depressive symptoms and its associated factors among pregnant
mothers attending antenatal clinic.
Methods: A hospital based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Teaching
Hospital Mahamodara, Galle. Pregnant mothers (n=320) with a 12 weeks of gestation were
evaluated. Validated Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used to assess
depressive symptoms. An EPDS score ≥10 considered as probable depression cases. Data were
analyzed using SPSS version 26.0. Variables having p<0.05 were considered as statistically
significant.
Results: The mean (SD) age of the participants was 28.45 (5.69) years with a range of 15 to
42 years. The probable antenatal depression was found to be in 30.6% (n=98) of
the participants. Antenatal depressive symptoms were associated with quality of
time spend with family [r(318)=0.32, p<0.001], gestational weeks [r(318)=0.12, p<0.05], lower
education [F(4, 315)=3.35, p=0.01], multiparous [F(2, 317)=3.41, p=0.03], unplanned
pregnancy [t(318)=-3.27, p=0.001], antenatal morbidities [t(318)=8.67, p<0.001], presence of
mental disorder [t(318)=2.31, p=0.021] and experience of suicidal attempts by a family member
[t(318)=2.85, p=0.005].
Conclusions: The study revealed that nearly two in five antenatal mothers are suffering from
depressive symptoms. Therefore, not only postnatal mothers but also antenatal mothers should
be screened for depressive symptoms and helped to improve their psychological state.
