A STUDY ON PREVALENCE AND SYMPTOMS OF POSTPARTUM BLUES

Dr.Abdulrahuman; Dr.Ramanujam G

Volume : VI, Issue : III, March - 2016

A STUDY ON PREVALENCE AND SYMPTOMS OF POSTPARTUM BLUES

Dr. Abdulrahuman, Dr. Ramanujam G

Abstract :

Postpartum blues is the most commonly observed puerperal mood disturbance, with international studies estimating a prevalence ranging from 30–75%.Indian studies on its prevalence are scarce .AIM: To study the prevalence of postpartum blues and the commonly presenting symptoms of post partum blues .METHODS : Fifty recently delivered mothers were studied by using semi structured proforma and Handley blues criteria .RESULT : Of the 50 mothers, six were diagnosed to have postpartum blues, accounting for 12% prevalence rate. The most common presenting symptom were insomnia, lack of energy and dysphoric mood. CONCLUSION: Prevalence rate of postpartum blues were almost similar to international data. The symptom patterns seen in this study may be of use in devising a standard diagnostic tool specific for blues, and validated appropriately after extensive research on larger samples of population.