Authors

• Mehrdad Khodabandeh ¹
• Leila Kashani ²
• Zanbagh Pirastehfar ³
• Saeed Dashti Dargahloo ⁴
• Mohammad Tabarestani ⁴
• Mohammad Dordeh ⁵
• Ali Rokni ⁶
• Omolbanin Heydari ⁷
• Masumeh Ghazanfarpour ⁸

¹ Neuromusculoskeletal Research Center, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

² Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, 5th Azar Hospital, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.

³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Sari Imam Khomeini Hospital, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.

⁴ Student Research Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.

⁵ Department of Psychology, Bandar Abbas, Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas, Iran.

⁶ Orthopedic Resident, Department of Orthopedic, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.

⁷ Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Razi School of Nursing and Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.

⁸ Student Research Committee, Student research committee, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.

Abstract

Background: Breastfeeding and mother-infant physical contact play an essential role in the mother's emotional recovery and readjustment. The present study aimed to investigate the association between attitude toward breastfeeding and postpartum depression.
Materials and Methods: The present descriptive cross-sectional and analytical study was conducted on 200 females with postpartum depression referred to rural and urban health centers, Kerman, Iran. The selection was carried out using the convenience sampling method. The mothers who met the inclusion criteria and had the willingness to participate were included in the study. They were called, and if they had inclusion criteria, they were asked to refer to health centers. Data were collected using a questionnaire about baseline characteristics and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS).
Results: This study showed that there was no special baseline effect on total attitude and aspect of depression. The results showed a significant negative relationship of total attitude with anxiety (r=-0.213, p=0.003), depression (r=-0.163, p=0.022), and anhedonia (r=-0.213, p=0.003). There were the strongest and the weakest relationship between anhedonia and depression (r=0.567, p<0.001), and between total attitude and depression (r=-0.163, p=0.022), respectively. According to the results of the independent t-test, a significant relationship was observed between scores of depression and total attitude, which means that females with depression had a more negative attitude (p<0.001).
Conclusion: The results of this study documented the relationship between the attitude towards breastfeeding with postpartum depression and anxiety.

Keywords

• Attitude
• Breastfeeding
• Postpartum depression