Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Dec;15(1):1722564.
doi: 10.1080/17482631.2020.1722564.

Mothers' and fathers' lived experiences of postpartum depression and parental stress after childbirth: a qualitative study

Maude Johansson  1 , Ylva Benderix  1 , Idor Svensson  1
Affiliations

Mothers' and fathers' lived experiences of postpartum depression and parental stress after childbirth: a qualitative study

Maude Johansson et al. Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

Purpose: The study aims are to explore the lived experiences of mothers and fathers of postpartum depression and parental stress after childbirth.Methods: Qualitative interviews conducted, and analysed from an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) perspective.Results: Both mothers and fathers described experiences of inadequacy, although fathers described external requirements, and mothers described internal requirements as the most stressful. Experiences of problems during pregnancy or a traumatic delivery contributed to postpartum depression and anxiety in mothers and affected fathers' well-being. Thus, identifying postpartum depression with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, mothers described varying experiences of child health care support. Postpartum depression seemed to affect the spouses' relationships, and both mothers and fathers experienced loneliness and spouse relationship problems. Experiences of emotional problems and troubled upbringing in the parents' family of origin may contribute to vulnerability from previous trauma and to long-term depressive symptoms for mothers.Conclusions: The findings of this study demonstrate the significant impact of postpartum depression and parental stress has in parents' everyday lives and on the spouse relationship. These results support a change from an individual parental focus to couples' transition to parenthood in child health care.

Keywords: Postpartum depression; child health care; parental stress; parental support; qualitative research.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

References

    1. Actions, A. O. (2018). Position statement on screening and treatment of mood and anxiety disorders during pregnancy and postpartum. In Policy documents are approved by the APA assembly and board of trustees.
    1. Ballard, C., Stanley, A., & Brockington, I. (1995). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after childbirth. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 166(4), 525–10. - PubMed
    1. Barimani, M., & Hylander, I. (2012). Joint action between child health care nurses and midwives leads to continuity of care for expectant and new mothers. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 7(1), 18183. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Beck, C. T. (2002). Postpartum depression: A metasynthesis. Qualitative Health Research, 12(4), 453–472. - PubMed
    1. Brummelte, S., & Galea, L. A. M. (2016). Postpartum depression: Etiology, treatment and consequences for maternal care. Hormones and Behavior, 77(Supplement C), 153–166. - PubMed