Annie Rajaratnam

Abstract

Background: Among the women during the time of pregnancy and childbirth the most common psychiatric morbidity seen is post natal depression. In order to reduce the effect of delivery on the mental health of mothers and also to increase the quality of life among such mothers numerous scales have been developed and one of such scale is Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) which is considered to be reliable and effective in diagnosing mothers who are at risk for Post Partum depression. Materials and Methods: The present comparative study was done at a tertiary care centre from December 2019 to February 2020. Study subjects were divided into two groups (Normal delivery and caesarean delivery) and a total of 40 study subjects were included in each group for the purpose of the study. Results: Prevalence of postnatal depression measured by EPDS scale was high in caesarean sections compared to normal deliveries. In normal delivery group, 27.5% of subjects had postnatal depression and in caesarean group, 55% of subjects had postnatal depression. The p value was found to be significant for Post natal depression between both the groups. Conclusion: In the present study it was concluded that the post natal depression was more among the subjects who underwent caesarean section when compared to those who underwent normal delivery. Keywords: Postnatal depression, Normal delivery, Caesarean delivery.

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Abstract

Introduction: Fetal echocardiography is a screening tool mostly reserved for high risk pregnant women. Early identification of cardiac anomalies improves perinatal outcomes. However this tool need not be restricted to high risk cases only but can be used for all pregnant women. Materials and Methods: This 6 month observational study included singleton pregnant women aged 18-40yrs attending antenatal clinic with one to two decisive risk factors for fetal congenital heart disease (CHD). A fetal echocardiography was done between 18 to 24 week of pregnancy. Results: Of the 50 cases a total of 4 cases of CHD’s were diagnosed by abnormal fetal echocardiography. The remaining 46 cases showed a complete accord between fetal and postnatal echo findings except one case where a membranous VSD with Left to Right shunt, was detected by pretnatal echo but was absent in the post natal finding. Conclusion: Our study strongly endorse all mothers to undergo fetal echocardiogram by trained specialists who are at risk of congenital heart disease such as maternal congenital heart disease and diabetes in pregnancy. Keywords: Fetal echocardiography, Congenital heart disease, High risk pregnancy.

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