Abstract summary 

Traditional perinatal practices may protect against postnatal common mental disorders (CMD) in non-Western societies.To evaluate the association between perinatal practices and postnatal CMD in rural Ethiopia.A population-based sample of 1065 women was followed up from pregnancy until 2 months postpartum. Qualitative investigation informed the development of scales measuring attitudes towards and adherence to perinatal practices. Postnatal CMD was measured using the Self-Reporting Questionnaire.Endorsement of sociocultural perinatal practices was associated with lower odds of antenatal CMD persisting into the postnatal period (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.66, 95% CI 0.45-0.95). Women who endorsed protective and celebratory perinatal practices but were unable to complete them had increased odds of incident (adjusted OR = 7.26, 95% CI 1.38-38.04) and persistent postnatal CMD (adjusted OR = 2.16, 95% CI 1.11-4.23) respectively.There is evidence for an independent role of sociocultural practices in maintaining perinatal mental health in this Ethiopian community.

Authors & Co-authors:  Hanlon Charlotte C Medhin Girmay G Alem Atalay A Araya Mesfin M Abdulahi Abdulreshid A Tomlinson Mark M Hughes Marcus M Patel Vikram V Dewey Michael M Prince Martin M

Study Outcome 

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