Postpartum emotional distress: a controlled study of Nigerian women after caesarean childbirth

Summary

The study investigated postpartum emotional distress including depression among 47 Nigerian women who had a caesarean section by comparing them at 6–8 weeks following childbirth with 47 matched controls who had normal vaginal delivery. Analysis of scores on the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) showed that women that delivered by caesarean section were significantly different from the controls on the GHQ and BDI scores in the postpartum period. Apart from marital status, other sociodemographic variables did not significantly contribute to psychopathology in this group of women. This observation is in support of the view that caesarean childbirth may predispose Nigerian women to adverse psychological sequelae.