Investigation of Health Sciences Faculty Students’ Knowledge About Postpartum Depression

Year 2025, Volume: 15 Issue: EK-1, 7 - 15, 20.10.2025

Cansu Mine Aydın , Doğan Akça

Abstract

Aim: The research was conducted to investigate the knowledge of nursing and midwifery students studying at the faculty of health sciences of a university in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Türkiye about postpartum depression.
Material and Methods: Two hundred ninety students studying in the 3rd and 4th year nursing and midwifery departments in the 2019–2020 academic year who agreed to participate in the research constituted the sample of this descriptive study. A personal information form and a postpartum depression information form were used in data collection. The data were analyzed using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program version 22. Values, means, percentage frequency distributions, Kruskal-Wallis H test and the Mann-Whitney U test were used in data analysis.
Results: Of the study participants, 79.3% were nursing students, and 52.4% were studying in the 3rd year. Of the participants, 82.1% knew traditional practices related to postpartum depression, and 37.8% considered traditional practices correct. The average level of the participants’ knowledge about postpartum depression was 4.70±2.39 points. The study revealed a statistically significant difference between the averages of the nursing and midwifery students’ knowledge levels about postpartum depression and the total number of correct answers (p<0.05).
Conclusion: The awareness and correct knowledge levels of health sciences faculty students about postpartum depression were found to be inadequate. The average knowledge levels of students studying in two different departments were different. It is recommended that the education provided to students who are future healthcare professional candidates about postpartum depression be strengthened, and awareness-raising studies and practices be conducted.

Keywords

knowledge , midwife , nurse , student; postpartum depression

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