OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of depression and its relationship with some demographic
variables in pregnant women presenting in the second and third trimester at a tertiary
care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan.
DESIGN: A descriptive study.
SETTING: Departments of Psychiatry and Gynecology/Obstetrics, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital,
Karachi, Sindh- Pakistan, from July 2003 to October 2003.
METHODS: Seventy-five females in second and third trimester of pregnancy were interviewed in
out patients department. Questionnaire was based on Edinburgh postnatal depression scale.
Main outcome measure was to find out the number of pregnant depressed females.
RESULTS: Pregnant females had twenty-six to thirty-six weeks of pregnancy. Twenty-six females
(34.6%) were found to have clinically significant depression according to Edinburgh postnatal
depression scale. Most of the cases were found between 22 and 36 weeks of pregnancy.
The average age of presentation was 26 years. Six, out of 26 (23%) depressed females were
primigravida. More so, other cases which were having depression were mostly in their second
or third confinements (ten cases out of twenty-six i.e. 38%).
CONCLUSION: Prenatal depression is an important clinical entity and shall be screened during
second and third trimesters of pregnancy. The more severe cases should be offered treatment
with either psychotherapy or medications to avoid future complications.
Key words: Prenatal Depression. Edinburgh postnatal depression scale. Tertiary Care Hospital.
Karachi.
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