Exploring Midwives’ Experiences of Barriers and Strategies to Improve Postpartum Depression Screening: A Conventional Content Analysis
Background and purpose: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a major postpartum mental health concern, and early screening plays an important role in reducing adverse outcomes. The prevalence of postpartum depression has been reported to range from 5% to 60% worldwide. Determining the prevalence of PPD an...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Journal of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences |
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| Online Access: | http://jmums.mazums.ac.ir/article-1-21631-en.pdf |
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| author | Zeinab Hamzehgardeshi Zohreh Shahhosseini Forouzan Elyasi Hanieh Salehi-pourmehr Afsaneh Fendereski Fereshteh Yazdani ghazal feizi |
| author_facet | Zeinab Hamzehgardeshi Zohreh Shahhosseini Forouzan Elyasi Hanieh Salehi-pourmehr Afsaneh Fendereski Fereshteh Yazdani ghazal feizi |
| author_sort | Zeinab Hamzehgardeshi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background and purpose: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a major postpartum mental health concern, and early screening plays an important role in reducing adverse outcomes. The prevalence of postpartum depression has been reported to range from 5% to 60% worldwide. Determining the prevalence of PPD and elucidating its risk factors for the prevention and treatment of PPD is of great social importance. Within the Iranian health system, family physician centers serve as the first level of referral, and midwives have a key role in PPD screening. This qualitative study aimed to explain midwives’ experiences of barriers and strategies to improve screening for postpartum depression using conventional content analysis.
Materials and methods: This study employed a qualitative approach with conventional content analysis. Data collection was conducted through semi-structured interviews with 27 midwives. To ensure the accuracy and robustness of the research data, member checking was conducted by the research participants and a research associate professor of psychiatry. The interviews were transcribed, and thematic coding was performed to extract categories and subcategories.
Results: The analysis revealed five main categories and 13 subcategories related to screening barriers, and three main categories and 10 subcategories for improvement strategies. The main barriers included structural-organizational, educational-professional, economic-social, psychological, and individual-clinical barriers. The suggested strategies comprised educational-cultural, supportive-social, and organizational-political approaches.
Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that postpartum depression screening faces structural-organizational, educational-professional, economic-social, psychological, and individual-clinical barriers but can be improved by implementing educational-cultural, supportive-social, and organizational-political strategies. Paying attention to these factors can enhance the process of identifying and intervening in postpartum depression |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-537a54f38bc644bcac21b6ecf54070dc |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1735-9260 1735-9279 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-537a54f38bc644bcac21b6ecf54070dc2025-08-20T03:13:04ZengMazandaran University of Medical SciencesJournal of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences1735-92601735-92792025-07-0135246139151Exploring Midwives’ Experiences of Barriers and Strategies to Improve Postpartum Depression Screening: A Conventional Content AnalysisZeinab Hamzehgardeshi0Zohreh Shahhosseini1Forouzan Elyasi2Hanieh Salehi-pourmehr3Afsaneh Fendereski4Fereshteh Yazdani5ghazal feizi6 professor, Department of Midwifery, Sexual and Reproductive Health Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran Professor, Department of Midwifery, Sexual and Reproductive Health Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Sexual and Reproductive Health Research Center, Addiction Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran Assistant Professor, Research Center for Evidence-Based Medicine, Iranian EBM Centre: JBI Centre of Excellence, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Health, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran PhD in Reproductive Health, Health Sciences Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran MSc in Counseling in Midwifery, Nasibeh School of Nursing and Midwifery, Student Research Committee Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran Background and purpose: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a major postpartum mental health concern, and early screening plays an important role in reducing adverse outcomes. The prevalence of postpartum depression has been reported to range from 5% to 60% worldwide. Determining the prevalence of PPD and elucidating its risk factors for the prevention and treatment of PPD is of great social importance. Within the Iranian health system, family physician centers serve as the first level of referral, and midwives have a key role in PPD screening. This qualitative study aimed to explain midwives’ experiences of barriers and strategies to improve screening for postpartum depression using conventional content analysis. Materials and methods: This study employed a qualitative approach with conventional content analysis. Data collection was conducted through semi-structured interviews with 27 midwives. To ensure the accuracy and robustness of the research data, member checking was conducted by the research participants and a research associate professor of psychiatry. The interviews were transcribed, and thematic coding was performed to extract categories and subcategories. Results: The analysis revealed five main categories and 13 subcategories related to screening barriers, and three main categories and 10 subcategories for improvement strategies. The main barriers included structural-organizational, educational-professional, economic-social, psychological, and individual-clinical barriers. The suggested strategies comprised educational-cultural, supportive-social, and organizational-political approaches. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that postpartum depression screening faces structural-organizational, educational-professional, economic-social, psychological, and individual-clinical barriers but can be improved by implementing educational-cultural, supportive-social, and organizational-political strategies. Paying attention to these factors can enhance the process of identifying and intervening in postpartum depressionhttp://jmums.mazums.ac.ir/article-1-21631-en.pdfpostpartum depressionscreeningmidwifequalitative study |
| spellingShingle | Zeinab Hamzehgardeshi Zohreh Shahhosseini Forouzan Elyasi Hanieh Salehi-pourmehr Afsaneh Fendereski Fereshteh Yazdani ghazal feizi Exploring Midwives’ Experiences of Barriers and Strategies to Improve Postpartum Depression Screening: A Conventional Content Analysis Journal of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences postpartum depression screening midwife qualitative study |
| title | Exploring Midwives’ Experiences of Barriers and Strategies to Improve Postpartum Depression Screening: A Conventional Content Analysis |
| title_full | Exploring Midwives’ Experiences of Barriers and Strategies to Improve Postpartum Depression Screening: A Conventional Content Analysis |
| title_fullStr | Exploring Midwives’ Experiences of Barriers and Strategies to Improve Postpartum Depression Screening: A Conventional Content Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring Midwives’ Experiences of Barriers and Strategies to Improve Postpartum Depression Screening: A Conventional Content Analysis |
| title_short | Exploring Midwives’ Experiences of Barriers and Strategies to Improve Postpartum Depression Screening: A Conventional Content Analysis |
| title_sort | exploring midwives experiences of barriers and strategies to improve postpartum depression screening a conventional content analysis |
| topic | postpartum depression screening midwife qualitative study |
| url | http://jmums.mazums.ac.ir/article-1-21631-en.pdf |
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