Antepartum Depression between Working and Non-Working Pregnant Women in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract

A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted at Dhaka for one year from January to December 2019, among working and non-working pregnant women. Data were collected by face-to-face interview and checklist, and all the statistical analyses were done by SPSS. Chi-square estimation was performed to investigate the bivariate association between depression levels and characteristics of pregnant women in this study. This study aimed to assess and compare the level of antepartum depression and its association with different background characteristics. From this study, it has been found that in non-working pregnant women there 57 % were normal or not depressed, 12.3 % mildly depressed, and 31.1 % significantly depressed. On the other hand, 67.3 % of working pregnant women were normal or not depressed, 13 % were mildly depressed, and 19.6 % were significantly depressed. The mean (±SD) age for non-working and working respondents were 25.63(±4.65) and 31.26(±5.29) years respectively. Working pregnant participants who didn’t get privileged by their colleagues from workplaces showed a significant depression status and the relationship was statistically significant (p=0.028). There was another significant association between unplanned pregnancy and depression levels of working participants (p=0.029). But no other association was found in the bivariate analysis. Non-working pregnant women were comparatively more depressed than the selected working pregnant respondents. So women's empowerment is required by expanding educational and job opportunities for a healthy mental state.