Author(s):
Oates, M. R. 
; Cox, J. L. ; Neema, S. ; Asten, P. ; Glangeaud-Freudenthal, N. ; Figueiredo, Bárbara ; Gorman, L. L. ; Hacking, S. ; Hirst, E. ; Kammerer, M. H. ; Klier, C. M. ; Seneviratne, G. ; Smith, M. ; Sutter-Dallay, A.-L. ; Valoriani, V. ; Wickberg, B. ; Yoshida, K. ; TCS-PND Group
Date: 2004
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/3686
Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
Description
Background: Postnatal depression seems to be a universal condition with
similar rates in different countries. However, anthropologists question the
cross-cultural equivalence of depression,
particularly at a life stage so influenced by
cultural factors.
Aims: To develop a qualitative method to explore whether postnatal depression is universally recognised, attributed and
described and to enquire into people’s
perceptions of remedies and services for
morbid states of unhappiness within the
context of local services.
Method: The study took place in 15 centres in 11 countries and drew on three groups of informants: focus groups with new mothers, interviews with fathers and
grandmothers, and interviews with health
professionals.Textual analysis of these three groups was conducted separately in each centre and emergent themes compared across centres.
Results: All centres described morbid unhappiness after childbirth comparable
to postnatal depression but not all saw this
as an illness remediable by health interventions.
Conclusions: Although the findings of
this study support the universality of a
morbid state of unhappiness following childbirth, they also support concerns
about the cross-cultural equivalence of postnatal depression as an illness requiring the intervention of health professionals;
this has implications for future research.
