Social and Religious Support for Postpartum Blues During Covid-19 Pandemic in Cangkringan

Managing postpartum blues during COVID-19 pandemic must be prioritized. Postpartum women are highly vulnerable to mental disorders during the pandemic including postpartum blues. Pregnant and postpartum women fear and worry about themselves and their babies getting infected. Economic difficulties, family conflicts, and domestic violence during the pandemic can exacerbate postpartum blues. The culture of visiting newborns without practicing safe, health protocols, and a culture of over-criticizing and lack of appreciation for postpartum women’s mothering skills constitute additional stressors. This is a quasi-experimental, pre-test and post-test control study, conducted from March to June 2021. Research subjects were postpartum women who delivered at three Midwifery Clinics in Cangkringan Health Center area, their husbands and midwives. Husband and Midwife Social and Religious Support Modules and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) were used. T-test was analysed. After training midwives and husbands on how to provide social and religious support, average EPDS scores in postpartum mothers significantly decreased from 12.20 to 3.93 (p=0.000005) and 12.80 to 7.13 (p = 0.00022) in the intervention and control groups respectively. In conclusion, midwives’ and husbands' social and religious support can significantly reduce the average postpartum depression score in postpartum women during the COVID-19 pandemic in Cangkringan.