ASSESSING DEPRESSION AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN SEEKING ANTENATAL CARE AT MADINA POLYCLINIC

ABSTRACT

Background: Mental illness is a very common mental disorder affecting women, especially in the low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Pregnancy is an increased vulnerability to depression. Most researchers have concentrated on postnatal depression with very little on antenatal depression. This is a major public health concern and needs further investigation.

Objective: The main aim of the current research is to assess depression status and its predictors among pregnant women seeking antenatal care at Madina Polyclinic.

Method: A descriptive cross-sectional design was conducted on 294 consented pregnant women using a well-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of three sections. Section one was the demographic information, section two, risk factors information and the last section, three was the Becks Depression Inventory (BDI). The BDI composed of 21 questions with each containing four possible responses ranging from zero (0) to three (3) which indicated the severity of a symptom. The questions were checked and coded and entered into Stata version 15. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the socio-demographic characteristics. Chi-square test and simple logistic regression were used to determine the association between the dependent variable, depression and the independent variables. The results were expressed in p-values, odds ratio, and confidence intervals. A p value of > 0.05 meant a statistically insignificant and a p-value of < 0.05 meant statistically significant.

Results: A total of 294 pregnant women participated in the study. The mean age of the women was 27 years (SD=5.23). Most of the mothers were Akan 94(31.97%) whiles 83(28.23%) were Ewe. About 17(5.82%) of the mothers were never married whiles 191(65.41%) were married. Most of the respondents had attended middle or Junior High

v

School or Junior Secondary School 115(39.12%). About 49(16.67%) of the mothers were employed whiles 14(4.76%) were housewives. Majority of the mothers were traders 121(41.16%). Depression among the mothers was found to be 32%. Factors such as age of the pregnant mothers (AOR=0.16,CI=0.05-0.48), current occupation (seamstress; AOR=0.11, CI=0.02-0.85), intimate partner violence (No partner assault; AOR=0.27,CI=0.10-0.72), social and partner support ( somewhat; AOR=0.01,CI=0.001-0.24), daily partner support (very unsupportive; AOR=8.80, CI=2.61-29.64), pregnancy plan (AOR=6.79,CI=2.33-19.78) and pregnancy complications (No complications; AOR=5.37,CI=1.57-18.30) were associated with antenatal depression.

Conclusion and Recommendation: Depression is prevalent among mothers who seek antenatal care at Madina Polyclinic. Therefore, to help reduce the prevalence of antenatal depression among the mothers, the ministry and stakeholders would need to strengthen the mental health service in maternal care and also public health education by health professionals should be encouraged to expose some of the signs and symptoms of depression.