Implications of violence experience in postpartum depression

Introduction

The violence against women is an exacerbating factor in public health that affects a third of the world's female population, and the intimate partner is the main perpetrator. Researches show the impact of violence in the victims' health, such as: postpartum depression (PPD). In this context, considering the importance and magnitude of the experience of violence and its impact on health, as well as depression negatively impacted on the health of the mother and baby, justify it to carry out this study.

Objective

To identify the prevalence of symptoms of PPD among puerperal women and to examine the association with violence experience.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional study, performed with 330 puerperal women admitted to a municipal maternity hospital in Cariacica - State of Espírito Santo, Brazil. Data collection was conducted by duly trained interviewers, using a form containing data on socioeconomic, behavioral and clinical characterization. In order to track violence acts, in life and in pregnancy, practiced by the intimate partner, we applied the World Health Organization instrument, which enables the identification of psychological, physical and sexual violence acts. The identification of the outcome under study, postpartum depression, was obtained by means of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. The data collected were analyzed through the Stata 13.0 program, where the following tests were performed: Pearson chi-squared test and Poisson regression.

Results

a rate of 36.7% of participants (95% CI: 31.6-42.0) showed symptoms of postpartum depression. Women who experienced violence from their partners throughout their lives had 1.9 times more prevalence of symptoms of depression. Those who experienced aggression during pregnancy showed an increase of 38.0% of this illness (p = 0.037).

Conclusions

The data presented reveal the high prevalence of women with symptoms of PPD and that violence experience was associated with higher frequencies of this event.

Key messages

Women who experienced violence from their partners throughout their lives had 1.9 times more prevalence of symptoms of depression. The data presented reveal the high prevalence of women with symptoms of postpartum depression and that violence experience was associated with higher frequencies of this event.