Management of maternal depression: Qualitative exploration of perceptions of healthcare professionals from a public tertiary care hospital, Karachi, Pakistan

The lack of implementation and routine screening of management techniques at tertiary care hospitals leads to an increased burden of maternal depression. The consequences are borne emotionally, physically, and mentally by the mother, the child, the overall family, and society. Hence, it is vital to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2021-07, Vol.16 (7), p.e0254212-e0254212
Main Authors: Jawed, Makkiya, Pradhan, Nousheen Akber, Mistry, Rozina, Nazir, Amirah, Shekhani, Sualeha, Ali, Tazeen Saeed
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Care and treatment
Cognition & reasoning
Content analysis
Depression, Mental
Ethics
Families & family life
Gauges
Health care
Health sciences
Hospitals
Intervention
Medical personnel
Medicine and Health Sciences
Mental depression
Mental disorders
Midwifery
Mothers
Nursing schools
People and Places
Physicians
Pregnancy
Pregnant women
Psychological aspects
Social Sciences
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Summary:The lack of implementation and routine screening of management techniques at tertiary care hospitals leads to an increased burden of maternal depression. The consequences are borne emotionally, physically, and mentally by the mother, the child, the overall family, and society. Hence, it is vital to contextualize this mental disorder to design and implement effective healthcare interventions. The study is aimed to assess the knowledge and practices of healthcare professionals, in a tertiary care setting, who deal with depressive symptoms amongst mothers. It gauges whether a psychological screening criterion is being implemented by the clinical staff during prenatal and postnatal visits to recommend steps that can help develop a service framework. A qualitative, exploratory study design was implemented for this research. With purposive sampling, eight in-depth interviews (three nurses and five doctors) at a single tertiary care hospital were conducted categorically using a semi-structured (open and close-ended questions) interview toolkit. Content Analysis was carried out using information gathered from the unit of analysis. The study provided evidence of the existing gaps in one particular tertiary healthcare system, within Pakistan, concerning diagnosis and management of maternal depression. Results highlighted that providers were well-versed with explanations of maternal depression, the aftermath of it, and the current status of healthcare; however, they were minimally educated about the specifics and levels of treatment. The gathered information assisted in recommending steps to develop a service framework.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0254212