Post-partum maternity 'blues' as a reflection of newborn nursing care in Japan.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the prevalence of post-partum 'blues' in mothers whose babies are cared for in a newborn nursery, compared with mothers providing rooming-in care.


METHODS
Japanese normal primiparous women were prospectively studied from 1998 to 1999. The newborns of these mothers were managed in the newborn nursery or by rooming-in care. To diagnose maternity 'blues' and 'depression', the Stein's Questionnaire and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale were used.


RESULTS
Ninety-seven and 93 women were managed by newborn nursery care and by rooming-in care, respectively. Of these women, a total of 181 women were considered for analysis. 'Blues' was noted in 31 of 92 mothers (33.7%) receiving newborn nursery care and in 18 of 89 (20.2%) receiving rooming-in care with a significant difference (P<0.05), and in 49 of 181 (27.1%) as a whole. The daily Stein's scores changed significantly during the 10 days post-partum in each group (P<0.0001). Post-partum 'depression' was observed in three mothers (3.4%) in the newborn nursery care group and in four (4.8%) of the rooming-in care group, not a significant difference, and in seven (4.1%) as a whole.


CONCLUSIONS
Maternity 'blues' is experienced by 25% or more of Japanese primiparous women delivering healthy babies via uncomplicated delivery. The system of newborn nursery infant care may be a potential causal factor for maternity 'blues', although it should be confirmed by a prospective randomized trial.
Sakumoto
K
K
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan.
Masamoto
H
H
Kanazawa
K
K
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D009725:Nurseries, Hospital; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012386:Rooming-in Care