Author(s)

Lonia Mwape, Mutinta C. Muleya, Patricia Katowa Mukwato, Margaret Maimbolwa

School of Nursing Sciences, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia.

Objective: This study sought to explore confinement following childbirth and its association with mental distress. Methods: A descriptive-analytical cross sectional study design was used. The study was conducted in two districts of Zambia representing an urban and rural setting, targeting parenting mothers during the first two months after delivery. Systematic random sampling technique was used to select the participants. Every second case seen at the study sites between March to August 2017 was selected to participate in the study. The data were collected using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship between the dependent and independent variables while binary logistic regression was used to check the combined impact of independent variables on mental distress. Ethical approval was obtained from the local Research Ethics Committees. Participation in the study was voluntary. Results: A total of 200 women participated in the study. The results revealed a high prevalence of mental distress, with 42 percent of women reporting severe levels, and 36.0 percent showing moderate levels. A statistically significant relationship was found between mental distress and confinement (X² = 29.289; P = 0.001), residential type (X² = 16.863; P = 0.001), and age (X² = 17.996; P = 0.006). Suicidal thoughts during confinement were also found to be prevalent in 16 percent of the participants. Binary logistic regression revealed that changes in confinement period from below 2 weeks to between 2 weeks and 1 month raised the odds of suffering mental distress 5.127 times while changes from a confinement period of between 2 weeks and 1 month to over 1 month raised the odds of suffering mental distress 7.737 times. Conclusion: The study results confirmed an association between confinement and mental distress, revealing that the longer the confinement, the more at risk the women were of mental distress.

Mental Distress, Confinement, Childbirth, Postnatal, Postpartum

Mwape, L. , Muleya, M. , Mukwato, P. and Maimbolwa, M. (2018) Confinement Following Child Birth and Associated Postpartum Mental Distress. Open Journal of Psychiatry, 8, 152-167. doi: 10.4236/ojpsych.2018.82015.