Relation between postpartum depression and childbirth practices recommended by Estrategia de atención al parto normal

The high prevalence of postpartum depression (PPD) (rates between 10-20% in developed countries) and its serious consequences for both women and children, highlight the need to continue studying the factors affecting DPP.Many studies have looked for factors related to this disorder, but none has carried out a comprehensive analysis to find out its relationship with childbirth practices, despite the possible relationship between the childbirth experiences and the emotional disorders in mothers, and the early alteration of the link between mother and child, that we have seen during our professional lifes.The objective of this research is to determine the prevalence of PPD among women whose childbirth took place at Miguel Servet Hospital, in Zaragoza, during October and November 2011, and to analyse its connection to carrying out clinical practice based on the best know-how available recommended by “Estrategia del parto normal del Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo (2007)”. An observational and transverse study based was carried out that consisted of an initial survey to an approximate sample of 600 women with a later phone call between the sixth and eighth week after the childbirth to detect women suffering from PPD, using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). The relationship between each variable defined within “Estrategia de atención del parto normal” and the existance of PPD will be studied; the following variables will be taken into account too, due to its high importance: parity, gestational pathology, prematurity, nationality and fulfilment of her childbirth.