Spouse’s social support in the postpartum period, predictors and its’ relationship with postpartum depression in a sample of Iranian primiparous women

Objective: To investigate the predictive factors of receiving spousal support in the postpartum period and its relationship with postpartum depression (PPD). Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between January and May 2019 in 250 primiparous women to determine the predictors of spousal social support in the postpartum period. Three scales were used to collect data: The Demographic and Obstetric Checklist, the Postpartum Partner Support Scale, and the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale. Results: Multivariate regression showed that the employment status of the spouse and life satisfaction variables were predictive of whether social support was received from a spouse in the postpartum period. In total, the variables examined in this model explained 19% of the variance for a mother receiving spousal social support in the postpartum period. PPD and spousal social support had a moderately inverse and significant correlation (β = –0.39). Conclusion: Life satisfaction and employment of the spouse are important predictive variables for receiving social support of the spouse in the postpartum period. There is also a significant inverse relationship between PPD and spousal social support.