Factors affecting postpartum depression among women of the UAE and OMAN

Objective: Is to evaluate factors related to the development of postpartum depression among an United Arab Emirates and Omani societies. Methods: The study was prospective, observational, and descriptive using a self-reporting questionnaire. Arab women in the UAE who had recently delivered within two months were eligible for inclusion in the study whether they had a vaginal or caesarean delivery. Results: The study included forty Emirati and Omani participants with Omani women being the majority (65 %). Around 55 % of the participants confessed low motherhood satisfaction, twenty-five (62 %) residing in a city and had the baby in a local hospital, twenty-one (52.5 %) of the newborns were boys. Many factors associated with an increased likelihood of PPD have been established in this study such as diet, exercise, colicky baby, financial constrains and many other factors which all show some association with PPD, Fifteen (37.5 %) of the questioned women preferred artificial sweeteners during pregnancy, ten of them had a cesarean delivery. Statistical analysis revealed that twenty-five (62.5 %) had a cesarean delivery, twenty-two of them complained of postpartum anxiety (p-value = 0.009, significant difference is present between anxious women who had vaginal childbirth and cesarean delivery). Conclusion: PPD is a serious condition which merits thorough investigation and better understanding among families, friends, patients and healthcare providers. It is recommended that health authorities and institutions to arrange for public campaigns about this silent disease.