Antenatal depression and its associated factors among women of Godawari Municipality, Lalitpur, Nepal: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of antenatal depression and identify its associated factors among pregnant women of Godawari Municipality, Lalitpur, Nepal. DESIGN: Community-based cross-sectional study. SETTING: Godawari Municipality, Lalitpur, Nepal, between September and November 2021. PARTICIPANTS: 250 randomly selected pregnant women of Godawari Municipality, Lalitpur, Nepal. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The level of antenatal depression was assessed using Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. χ(2) test and multivariate logistic regression analysis were applied to determine the association between antenatal depression and related variables at 95% level of confidence. RESULTS: The prevalence of antenatal depression was found to be 24.8% (95% CI: 19.2 to 30.7). Multigravida (AOR: 2.219, 95% CI: 1.113 to 4.423), unintended pregnancy (AOR: 2.547, 95% CI: 1.204 to 5.388), male sex preference of child by family (AOR: 2.531, 95% CI: 1.204 to 5.321) and intimate partner violence (AOR: 2.276, 95% CI: 1.116 to 4.640) were found to be the positive predictors of antenatal depression. CONCLUSION: This study showed a high prevalence of depression among pregnant women. The results suggest a need for mental health assessment during pregnancy. Screening for depression should be part of routine antenatal checkups for early detection and management of mental health concerns during this vulnerable period.