Effects of the Education and Family Support Program on Women with Maternity Blues

Abstract

Objective: To assess the effects of the education and family support program on postpartum women with blues. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, the pre-test and post-test of maternity blues in the experimental and control groups were performed. Participants selected by convenience sampling were 60 postpartum women with blues who stayed on the obstetrics-gynecology ward of Queen Sirikit Hospital, Chonburi Province. The first 30 cases were allocated to a control group and the rest to an experimental group. In addition to the routine nursing care provided for both groups, participants in the experimental group also received the program service. The participants’ demographic information and Kennerley’s Blues scores were collected using the questionnaires. The Blues questionnaire had a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.85. Data were analyzed and presented as frequencies with percentages, ranges, and means with standard deviations. The mean blues scores between groups were tested by a t-test, and having the blues symptom by a chi-square test. The within-group changes of mean blues scores were tested by a paired t-test. Results: In the experimental group, the post-test maternity blues mean score was significantly lower than the pre-test score (t29 = -5.87, P < 0.001). After the experiment, the decrease in the mean difference of post-test and pre-test blues scores of the experimental group (15.23 ± 14.22) was significantly more than the decrease of 6.50 ± 11.97 in the control (t58 = -2.57, P < 0.01). The experimental group had a lower proportion of women with postpartum blues than the control (30.0% vs. 56.7%; c2 = -4.34, df = 1, P = 0.02). Conclusion: The education and family support program could decrease blues in postpartum mothers. Nurses responsible for caring mothers should screen for blues in women during pregnancy and postpartum. Keywords: Education and family support program, maternity blues, postpartum women