Postpartum psychiatric disorders constitute an important field of problems due to the fact that they lead to an increase in mortality both in infant and mother. A history of mental disorders and stressful life events during pregnancy and post partum period, poor familial and social relations are stated as important risk factors. The aim of this study is to specify the risk factors associated with PPD in Turkish women.

Among 185 women that gave birth in a state hospital, 80 were suitable and admitted to the study. One month after the birth, subjects were interviewed with an assessment battery including SCID-I, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and a semistructured interview form concerning the sociodemographic and risk factors for PPD.

Thirty percent of our subjects were diagnosed as PPD. Patients with PPD had more severe depressive symptoms during the last 3 months of pregnancy, higher rates of history of depression, PPD, postpartum blues, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, parental depression, poor social support, stressful life events during last 1 year, and problems in marriage as compared those without PPD. There was no significant difference between groups with respect to type of birth and pregnancy, history of abortion and curettage, and emotional response to oral contraceptive drugs.

Assessing the factors that increase the liability to PPD would make it easier to detect the individuals with high risk and to provide earlier professional support to those individuals.