The Relationship Between Postpartum Poor Sleep Quality, Fatigue and Postpartum Depression: A Descriptive Research Study of the North West of Türkiye

Abstract

Objective: The study was conducted to examine the re- lationship between poor sleep quality, fatigue and depression preva- lence in women in the 2 nd and 6 th weeks postpartum in Türkiye. Material and Methods: The research was planned as descriptive-cor- relational study. The study was conducted with 379 women. The study was conducted in three phases in a city hospital located in the Marmara Region of Türkiye. The data was collected using a form including the demographic/obstetric characteristics of the women, Visual Similarity Scale for Fatigue (VAS-F), Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) and Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index. Results: Of the women, 58.2% were multiparous and 50.2% gave birth with cesarean section. Midwives and nurses were involved in 4.3% of the prenatal care and 53.9% of postpartum care. The rate of poor sleep quality was 90.6% in the 2nd week of postpartum and 87.6% in the 6 th week of postpartum. The rate of postpartum depression was 29.6%. The mean scores of the primiparous and multiparous women on “VAS-F” in the 6th week were higher compared to the mean scores in the 2 nd week. The risk of post- partum depression increased with “VAS-F” in the 2nd week of postpar- tum and the “EPDS” scores were found to be high in all patients with poor sleep quality. Conclusion: It is recommended that each woman be evaluated individually regarding fatigue, depression and sleep quality in the postpartum period and an intervention plan should be developed for the identified causes.