Risk and Protective Factors of Postpartum Anxiety in Mothers Attending the Pediatric Demonstration Unit at the Kenyatta National Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: The prevalence of anxiety disorders among postpartum women is higher than that in the general population at approximately 20% - 25% with consequences of postpartum anxiety associated with difficulties in parenting abilities and cognitive and developmental difficulties to the child. Risk and protective factors of postpartum anxiety have been associated with varying maternal social and demographic characteristics. Fewer studies in Africa have focused on postpartum anxiety with currently no study done in Kenya on the risk and protective factors of postpartum anxiety. Study Objectives: The main objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with postpartum anxiety among mothers at the Pediatric Demonstration Unit at Kenyatta National Hospital. Methodology. This was a cross-sectional study at the Kenyatta National Hospital Pediatric demonstration unit. Mothers were recruited after giving informed consent and data collected using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and a Structured Questionnaire. Study Population: Data was collected from 131 mothers recruited via systematic sampling at the Pediatric Demonstration Unit at the Kenyatta National Hospital. Data analysis: Data collected was analyzed using SPSS version 22.0 after being cleaned for errors and inconsistencies. Results: A total of 131 mothers were recruited into the study. The percentage of mothers with postpartum anxiety was 40.5% (n=53). The mean, median, SD of anxiety scores was 7.0, 6.0, and 3.4 respectively. 78 (59.5%) of the mothers had no anxiety, 34 (26.0%) had mild anxiety, 15(11.5%) had moderate anxiety and 4(3%) had severe anxiety. Forty-two (32.1%) participants had depression and comorbidity of anxiety and depression was observed in 23 (17.6%) of the participants. The risk factors associated with postpartum anxiety were considering oneself an anxious person (p <0.001), awareness of a mother's ability to deal with the stress and worries of being a new mother (p=0.024), and depression (p= 0.001). No protective factors were identified from this study. Conclusion: The prevalence of postpartum anxiety in mothers attending the Pediatric Demonstration Unit at Kenyatta national hospital was significantly high compared to that of depression and that of anxiety in the general population. While there were no protective factors identified, risk factors associated with postpartum anxiety were awareness of the ability to deal with stress, considering oneself an anxious person, and depression.