Perinatal death triples the prevalence of postpartum depression among women in Northern Uganda: Acommunity-basedcross sectional study
| dc.contributor.author | Arach, Anna Agnes Ojok | |
| dc.contributor.author | Nakasujja, Noeline | |
| dc.contributor.author | Nankabirwa, Victoria | |
| dc.contributor.author | Ndeezi, Grace | |
| dc.contributor.author | Kiguli, Juliet | |
| dc.contributor.author | Mukunya , David | |
| dc.contributor.author | Odongkara, Beatrice | |
| dc.contributor.author | Achora, Vincentina | |
| dc.contributor.author | Tongun, Justin Bruno | |
| dc.contributor.author | Musaba, Milton Wamboko | |
| dc.contributor.author | Napyo, Agnes | |
| dc.contributor.author | Zalwango, Vivian | |
| dc.contributor.author | Tylleskar, Thorkild | |
| dc.contributor.author | Tumwine, James K. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-06-18T11:29:17Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-06-18T11:29:17Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2020-10-13 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Introduction Deaths during the perinatal period remain a big challenge in Africa, with 38 deaths per 1000 pregnancies in Uganda. The consequences of these deaths can be detrimental to the women;someendingupwithpostpartum depression. We examined the association between perinatal death and postpartum depression among women in Lira district, Northern Uganda. Methods We conducted acommunity-basedcross-sectional study of 1,789 women. Trained research assistants screened women for postpartum depressive symptoms on day 50 postpartum using the Edinburgh postpartum depression scale (EPDS). Socio-demographic, economic, birth and survival status of the neonate were collected during pregnancy and within one weekpostpartum. We usedgeneralized estimating equation for the Poisson family with a log link using Stata to estimate the prevalence ratio of the association between postpartum depressive symptoms (EPDS scores �14) and perinatal death. Mothers who lost their babies between 7–49 days postpartum were excluded. Results Of the 1,789 participants symptomatically screened for postpartum depression, 377 (21.1%) [95% confidence interval (95%CI): 17.2%, 23.0%] had probable depressive symp toms. The prevalence of postpartum depressive symptoms among the 77women who had experienced perinatal death (37 stillbirths and 40 early neonatal deaths (�7 days of life)) was62.3%[95%CI:50.8%,72.6%] comparedto19.2% [95%CI:17.4%, 21.2%], among 1,712 with live infants at day 50 postpartum. Women who had experienced a perinatal death were three times as likely to have postpartum depressive symptoms as those who had a live birth [adjusted prevalence ratio 3.45 (95% CI: 2.67, 4.48)]. Conclusions The prevalence of postpartum depressive symptoms, assessed by EPDS, was high among womenwhohadhada perinatal death in Northern Uganda. Womenexperiencing aperinatal death need to be screened for postpartum depressive symptoms in order to intervene and reduce associated morbidity. | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | The study was funded by the Norwegian Programme for Capacity Development in Higher Education and Research for Development (NORHED) through the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), Norway via the Survival Pluss Project at Makerere University (no. UGA-13-0030). The funders had no role in study design, data collection, and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Arach AAO, Nakasujja N, Nankabirwa V, Ndeezi G, Kiguli J, Mukunya D, et al. (2020) Perinatal death triples the prevalence of postpartum depression among women in Northern Uganda: A community-based cross-sectional study. PLoS ONE 15(10): e0240409. https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240409 | |
| dc.identifier.other | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240409 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14270/856 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | PLOS ONE | |
| dc.title | Perinatal death triples the prevalence of postpartum depression among women in Northern Uganda: Acommunity-basedcross sectional study | |
| dc.type | Article |