• Rebecca Ganann, Wendy Sword, Lehana Thabane, Bruce Newbold, and Margaret Black.
• 1 School of Nursing, McMaster University , Hamilton, Canada .
• J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2016 Feb 1; 25 (2): 155-65.

BackgroundImmigrant women are at increased risk for postpartum depression (PPD). The factors that influence PPD among immigrant women are poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to identify individual- and community-level factors predictive of PPD among immigrant women living in a large Ontario city at 6 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year postpartum.MethodsThe study involved a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study, The Ontario Mother and Infant Study 3. This study included 519 immigrant women who were recruited from two hospitals in one urban city and delivered full-term singleton infants. Women completed a written questionnaire in hospital, followed by structured telephone interviews at 6 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year after hospital discharge. Generalized estimating equations were used to explore factors associated with PPD, measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and two thresholds for depression (≥12 and ≥9).ResultsRates of PPD at all time points were 8%-10% for EPDS scores of ≥12. For EPDS scores of ≥9, rates of PPD more than doubled at all time points. A lack of social support was strongly associated with PPD in all analyses. Living in Canada for ≤2 years, poor perceptions of health, and lower mental health functioning were other important predictors of PPD. Living in communities with a high prevalence of immigrants and low income also was associated with PPD.ConclusionsComplex individual and community-level factors are associated with PPD in immigrant women. Understanding these contextual factors can inform a multifaceted approach to addressing PPD.

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