The Whole is Greater than the Sum of the Parts: The Effects of an Antenatal Orientation Interviews Training for Prospective Parents Postnatal Depression Levels

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine an antenatal orientation interviews training for prospective parents' postnatal depression levels. A quasi-experimental study carried out with 26 (12 experimental, 14 control) prospective mother and father. Participants completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale one week before the intervention and 12 weeks after birth. Participants in experimental group received a four week new situation orientation interviews training for parents but any intervention made in control group. Results of this study suggested that albeit analyzing the orientation interviews of the males and the females in the experimental group, individual depression scores were observed to decrease, but this decrease was found to be statistically insignificant. However, once the depression levels of the families were analyzed as a whole, the parents' prenatal and postpartum depression levels were similar in the control group but parents in the experimental group post-partum depression levels were significantly decreased in postnatal period.

Keywords: Postpartum depression, antenatal orientation interviews, prospective parents, Turkey.