Abstract
Postpartum depression is a serious public health concern because of its demonstrated adverse consequences on the development of maternal confidence and the cognitive, emotional and social development of their infant. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and severity of postpartum depression among women at El Eman's Specialized Hospital and examine the main predictors for postpartum depression among these women during the first three months postpartum. The study was carried out in the Family Planning out patient's Clinic, El Eman Specialized Hospital at Assiut City, Egypt. The study sample comprised 110 pregnant women. Three tools were used for data collection, namely: Sociodemographic Data Structured Interview schedules, postpartum depression predictors inventory (PDPI), and Edinburgh Postnatal depression scale. The main results yielded by the study proved that, 42.73% of the studied sample were in the age group from 25 to 30 years, the majority of sample were house wives (84.5 %) , 29.1 % of sample feeling of depression during pregnancy , 50% of them suffering from anxiety during pregnancy , 44.5% of them feeling of maternity blues and 80.7% of women had post- partum depression . the study recommended to help women to improve the outcome of families suffering with post-partum depression by engaging in routine screening and providing education and referral sources to women .