author(s)
Athira A and Litha Lizbeth

abstract
The present study was aimed to assess the prevalence of postpartum depression and its associated factors among postnatal mothers in Amala Institute of Medical Sciences, Thrissur. The objectives of the study were to assess the prevalence of postpartum depression among postnatal mothers, identify the factors associated with postpartum depression and find the association between postpartum depression with selected baseline variables. The study was based on Hildegard E Peplau’s theory of Interpersonal Relations. The research approach was quantitative and research design adopted was exploratory descriptive research design. A total of 230 postnatal mothers from 4-10 weeks of child birth attending the Obstetrics and Gynaecological outpatient department of Amala Institute of Medical sciences were selected by purposive sampling technique. After explaining about the study, an informed consent was obtained. Baseline variables and associated factors of postpartum depression were collected from the samples using structured questionnaire by interview method. Self administered Edinburgh Postnatal depression Scale was used to assess prevalence of postpartum depression. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics The result revealed that the prevalence of postpartum depression was 11.3%. There was a significant association between single marital status with postpartum depression with p value 0.017 (p < 0.05), postpartum depression with educational status with p value 0.0001(p < 0.001) and postpartum depression with occupational status with p value 0.0001 (p <1.1).