title: Postnatal depression: a study of mothers in the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia.
abstract: This paper sets out the extent to which postnatal depression (PND) existed within the Perth metropolitan area of Western Australia in 1993/94. More importantly, the phenomenon of PND, from the mothers' perspective, is described. The paper is based on a two-stage research carried out on PND from 1993 to 1994. In the first stage, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used to screen mothers for PND. A random sample of 399 women showed 72 (18 percent) were found to be suffering from a depressive illness of varying severity. The second stage of the study used a grounded theory approach. Fifteen mothers with PND from the group screened were interviewed in their own homes. A schema, developed from the data, revealed that the main problems of the mothers was vulnerability. Support played a pivotal role in the transition from PND to stable motherhood. There was a long and short circuit followed, according to the availability and non-availability of support.
authors.affiliation: St John of God Community Services, Joondalup.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Maloney
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014504:Urban Health; D014904:Western Australia / Q000453:epidemiology