To examine the effects of an interpersonal psychotherapy oriented childbirth education programme on social support, maternal role competence, postpartum depression and psychological well-being in Chinese first-time childbearing women at three-month postpartum.
Randomised controlled trial in a regional teaching hospital, Guangzhou, China with 194 first-time pregnant women, of whom 96 received interpersonal-psychotherapy-oriented childbirth education programme and 98 standard care. The intervention was developed from principles of interpersonal psychotherapy which consisted of two 90-min antenatal classes and a telephone follow-up within two weeks after delivery. Outcomes measurements included Perceived Social Support Scale, Parenting Sense of Competence Scale-Efficacy subscale, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and General Health Questionnaire, were compared over three-month follow up.
The study group had significantly better improvement on perceived social support (pxA0;< 0.01), maternal role competence (p < 0.01), postpartum depressive symptoms (p < 0.01) and psychological well-being (p < 0.01) when compared with the control group. The study group also had significantly higher level of social support (t = 2.33, p = 0.021), maternal role competence (t = 2.43, p = 0.016) and less depressive symptoms (t = 鈭?.39, p = 0.018) at three-month postpartum when compared with the control group.
The childbirth psychoeducation programme can substantially benefit first time Chinese mothers. It could be implemented as a routine care with ongoing evaluation. Future studies could focus on women in lower social classes, with multiple pregnancy and complicated pregnancy.