How Mothers Describe Their Recovery From Postpartum Depression

Objective: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a mood disorder that interferes with a woman’s experience of motherhood and affects her developing relationship with the newborn.  PPD is characterized by altered thought processes and frequently diminished sleep and appetite.

Many quantitative diagnostic instruments are used by healthcare practitioners to measure PPD.  Recovery from PPD is often determined by reassessment with the same assessment instruments used or other quantitative instruments. 

The primary purpose of this study was to describe and understand the experience of recovery in women who have recovered from PPD.  The second purpose was to describe the facilitators of and barriers to recovery from PPD as experienced by the participants.

Design: The method of inquiry and data interpretation adhered to the style of naturalistic inquiry. The audio-recorded responses were transcribed and analyzed for the presence of themes of the women’s perception of their recovery.  Analysis of data was ongoing during the time the interviews were conducted.  Data were collected until saturation occurred and no new themes were revealed.

Setting: Each interview was conducted either in the participant's home or local setting of their choice that would ensure privacy.

Patients/Participants:

Participants were nine women who were medically diagnosed with PPD and self identified as having recovered from PPD.  They were recruited primarily through healthcare providers,  discussions with friends, family, and colleagues of the researcher.

Methods:

During individual interviews at their home or other locations they were asked the question, “How do you describe your recovery from PPD?”  Two additional questions were asked to determine the facilitators and barriers to their recovery. 

Results: Four thematic junctures reveal the varying times during the participant’s recovery: prelude to recovery, igniting recovery, recovery recounted as a victory and realizing recovery was achieved.  The facilitators of their recovery were support from others and their own optimistic attitude.  The barriers to recovery were lack of support from others, their own negative attitude, and physical burdens.

Conclusion/Implications for nursing practice:

This study revealed the progression from hopelessness in PPD to recovery that was expressed as various thoughts, feelings and behaviors.  The importance of maternal identity, control, support from family and healthcare providers, and physical wellness are demonstrated in this study.  The significance of this study to nursing education, nursing practice, and nursing science was to obtain a description of recovery from PPD from those who had experienced recovery to benefit our understanding of recovery.

Keywords:  

Postpartum depression, recovery, facilitators, barriers, thematic junctures