Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Intervention on Anxiety and Depression among Postpartum Women Attending Selected Tertiary Hospitals in Lagos State

Abstract

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention on anxiety and depression among postpartum women attending selected tertiary hospitals in Lagos State. A two-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was adopted. The study population comprised 145 postpartum women attending the postnatal clinics of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital and Federal Medical Centre, Ebute-Meta, from which a sample of 117 was obtained using Yamane’s formula. Multistage sampling was used to recruit 69 participants into the intervention group at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital and 48 participants into the control group at Federal Medical Centre, Ebute-Meta. Data were collected using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and an independent-samples t-test at a 5 % level of significance. At baseline, severe anxiety was observed in 43.8 % of the control group and 44.9% of the intervention group, while moderate anxiety was also common. Probable depression was recorded among 50.0 % of the control group and 44.9 % of the intervention group. Following the intervention, anxiety scores in the intervention group declined from 12.84 to 7.75, while depression scores declined from 17.94 to 13.29. These findings suggest that the mindfulness-based intervention was associated with reduced anxiety and depressive symptoms among postpartum women in the intervention group. The study underscores the need for routine mental health screening and feasible non-pharmacological support within postnatal care, although interpretation should consider the quasi-experimental design and site-based recruitment.