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The Emotional Impact of Mode of Delivery in Cameroonian Mothers: Comparing Vaginal Delivery and Caesarean Section

Received: 7 February 2020     Accepted: 25 February 2020     Published: 24 March 2020
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Abstract

Background: The rate of caesarean section delivery seems to be continuously increasing worldwide over the years. The safety of this method of delivery as far as mothers’ mental state is concerned compared to vaginal delivery has been the subject of a number of studies. This study aimed at evaluating the emotional state of newly delivered women after various mode of delivery so as to enable comparison in our context. Method: A cross sectional analysis of two consecutive cohorts of newly delivered women were successively carried out from January 2014 to April 2015 at the Yaoundé Gynaeco-Obstetric and Paediatric hospital (YGOPH). The first group comprised 214 women with vaginal delivery while the second group was made of 321 women who had delivered through caesarean section. Women emotional and psychological impairments were evaluated by screening for the baby blues, which is a mild, transient and precocious depressive state of the postpartum. The Kennerley and Gath blues questionnaire which was used as the screening tool is the most approved and standardized scale for diagnosing the baby blues during the first 10 days of postpartum. Demographic information, medical, obstetrical, psychosocial and neonatal data were equally obtained. Results: The incidence of emotional instability in women with vaginal delivery was 36.9% [CI (31.8%, 42.4%)] while that of the group of women who delivered through caesarean section was 33.3% [CI (28.2%, 38.8%)]. Conclusion: Emotional instability occurred in both groups of women after vaginal delivery and caesarean section, but was less frequent after caesarean section, though not statistically significant. Therefore, psychic impairments that may occur during postpartum is bound to the delivery process as a whole and not just specific to its mode or type. However, the prevention of post-traumatic stress which may be associated with all forms of delivery, mainly by psychological support and reduction of all forms of pain should be done, regardless of the mode of delivery so as to prevent psychic complication.

Published in American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience (Volume 8, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajpn.20200801.15
Page(s) 18-21
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Baby Blues, Caesarean Section, Vaginal Delivery, Postpartum, Cameroon

References
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[2] Rezaie-Keikhaie K, Arbabshastan ME, Rafiemanesh H, Amirshahi M, Mogharabi S, Sarjou AA. Prevalence of the Maternity Blues in the Postpartum Period. J Obstet Gynecol Neoatal Nurs. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jogn.2020.01.001.
[3] Virginie IM, Michel riex. Baby blues. Eres spirale. 2019; 89: 131-135.
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[5] Cheetham RW, Rzalkowoski A. Psychiatric aspects of labour and puerperium. S Afr Med J 1980; 58 (20): 814-6.
[6] Karlstrom A, Nystedt A et al. Behind the myth- few women prefer caesarean section in the absence of medical and obstetrical factors.
[7] Kingdon C et al. Systematic review of nulliparous women view of planned caesarean section birth: the missing component in the debate about a term cephalic trial. Birth 2006; 33 (3): 229-37.
[8] Gamble JA, Geedy DK. Women’s request for a caesarean section: a critique of the literature. Birth 2000; 27 (4) 256-63.
[9] Adams SS, Eberthard-Gran M et al. Mode of delivery and postpartum emotional distress: a cohort study 55814 women. BJOG 2012; 119 (3) 298-305.
[10] Gomez Lopez et al. Delivery or caesarean section and women emotional condition. Ginecol Obstet Mex. 2008; 76 (7): 365-72.
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[12] World Health Organization. WHO recommendations: intrapartum care for a positive childbirth experience. WHO 2018.
[13] Malalagama AS. Lack of affective communication by the staff as a risk factor for postpartum blues in an obstetric unit of a Base Hospital in Sri Lanka. SL J Psychiatry 2018; 9 (1): 15-19.
[14] Adewuya A O. Prevalence and risk factors of maternity blues in western Nigerian women. Am J Ostet Gynaecol, 2005; 193 (4): 1522-5.
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[16] Zanardo V, Volpe F, de Luca F, Giliberti L, Giustardi A, Parotto M et al. Maternity blues: A risk factor for anhedonia, anxiety, and depression components of Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. J Matern-Fetal Neonatal Med. 2019; 25: 1–7.
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  • APA Style

    Georges Pius Kamsu Moyo, Nadège Djoda. (2020). The Emotional Impact of Mode of Delivery in Cameroonian Mothers: Comparing Vaginal Delivery and Caesarean Section. American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 8(1), 18-21. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20200801.15

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    ACS Style

    Georges Pius Kamsu Moyo; Nadège Djoda. The Emotional Impact of Mode of Delivery in Cameroonian Mothers: Comparing Vaginal Delivery and Caesarean Section. Am. J. Psychiatry Neurosci. 2020, 8(1), 18-21. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpn.20200801.15

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    AMA Style

    Georges Pius Kamsu Moyo, Nadège Djoda. The Emotional Impact of Mode of Delivery in Cameroonian Mothers: Comparing Vaginal Delivery and Caesarean Section. Am J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2020;8(1):18-21. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpn.20200801.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajpn.20200801.15,
      author = {Georges Pius Kamsu Moyo and Nadège Djoda},
      title = {The Emotional Impact of Mode of Delivery in Cameroonian Mothers: Comparing Vaginal Delivery and Caesarean Section},
      journal = {American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience},
      volume = {8},
      number = {1},
      pages = {18-21},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajpn.20200801.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20200801.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajpn.20200801.15},
      abstract = {Background: The rate of caesarean section delivery seems to be continuously increasing worldwide over the years. The safety of this method of delivery as far as mothers’ mental state is concerned compared to vaginal delivery has been the subject of a number of studies. This study aimed at evaluating the emotional state of newly delivered women after various mode of delivery so as to enable comparison in our context. Method: A cross sectional analysis of two consecutive cohorts of newly delivered women were successively carried out from January 2014 to April 2015 at the Yaoundé Gynaeco-Obstetric and Paediatric hospital (YGOPH). The first group comprised 214 women with vaginal delivery while the second group was made of 321 women who had delivered through caesarean section. Women emotional and psychological impairments were evaluated by screening for the baby blues, which is a mild, transient and precocious depressive state of the postpartum. The Kennerley and Gath blues questionnaire which was used as the screening tool is the most approved and standardized scale for diagnosing the baby blues during the first 10 days of postpartum. Demographic information, medical, obstetrical, psychosocial and neonatal data were equally obtained. Results: The incidence of emotional instability in women with vaginal delivery was 36.9% [CI (31.8%, 42.4%)] while that of the group of women who delivered through caesarean section was 33.3% [CI (28.2%, 38.8%)]. Conclusion: Emotional instability occurred in both groups of women after vaginal delivery and caesarean section, but was less frequent after caesarean section, though not statistically significant. Therefore, psychic impairments that may occur during postpartum is bound to the delivery process as a whole and not just specific to its mode or type. However, the prevention of post-traumatic stress which may be associated with all forms of delivery, mainly by psychological support and reduction of all forms of pain should be done, regardless of the mode of delivery so as to prevent psychic complication.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - The Emotional Impact of Mode of Delivery in Cameroonian Mothers: Comparing Vaginal Delivery and Caesarean Section
    AU  - Georges Pius Kamsu Moyo
    AU  - Nadège Djoda
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20200801.15
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajpn.20200801.15
    T2  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
    JF  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
    JO  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-426X
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20200801.15
    AB  - Background: The rate of caesarean section delivery seems to be continuously increasing worldwide over the years. The safety of this method of delivery as far as mothers’ mental state is concerned compared to vaginal delivery has been the subject of a number of studies. This study aimed at evaluating the emotional state of newly delivered women after various mode of delivery so as to enable comparison in our context. Method: A cross sectional analysis of two consecutive cohorts of newly delivered women were successively carried out from January 2014 to April 2015 at the Yaoundé Gynaeco-Obstetric and Paediatric hospital (YGOPH). The first group comprised 214 women with vaginal delivery while the second group was made of 321 women who had delivered through caesarean section. Women emotional and psychological impairments were evaluated by screening for the baby blues, which is a mild, transient and precocious depressive state of the postpartum. The Kennerley and Gath blues questionnaire which was used as the screening tool is the most approved and standardized scale for diagnosing the baby blues during the first 10 days of postpartum. Demographic information, medical, obstetrical, psychosocial and neonatal data were equally obtained. Results: The incidence of emotional instability in women with vaginal delivery was 36.9% [CI (31.8%, 42.4%)] while that of the group of women who delivered through caesarean section was 33.3% [CI (28.2%, 38.8%)]. Conclusion: Emotional instability occurred in both groups of women after vaginal delivery and caesarean section, but was less frequent after caesarean section, though not statistically significant. Therefore, psychic impairments that may occur during postpartum is bound to the delivery process as a whole and not just specific to its mode or type. However, the prevention of post-traumatic stress which may be associated with all forms of delivery, mainly by psychological support and reduction of all forms of pain should be done, regardless of the mode of delivery so as to prevent psychic complication.
    VL  - 8
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Author Information
  • Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon

  • Department of Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon

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