Nursing intervention for preventing postpartum depressive symptoms among Chinese women in Japan.
Qiongai Jin, Emi Mori, Akiko Sakajo
PMID 32250045WHAT IT FOUND
After a class, conversation cards, and WeChat group added to routine maternity care for Chinese mothers in Japan, anxiety scores did not change and the proportion scoring over 10 stayed at 21.1%.
All 38 completers reported positive postpartum appraisals, but there was no control group.
Key findings
01Among 38 women who completed all parts, average state anxiety scores did not differ before and after the program.
02After the program, 21.1% of participants scored over 10 on the depression screen, and this percentage had not increased from before the program.
03All 38 participants showed positive cognitive appraisals, and 36 of 38 did not report stress from cross-cultural stressors.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
There was no control group, so any change could be due to routine care, time, or normal postpartum adjustment rather than the program. Only 38 women completed all parts; 166 were approached and 63 consented, making the sample small and self-selected. Participants had relatively low baseline anxiety compared with reported averages for Japanese and mainland Chinese pregnant women, leaving little room to show reduction. The program combined a maternity class, conversation cards, and a WeChat peer group, so the contribution of any one component cannot be separated. The conversation cards and WeChat group were used by few participants, limiting how much the intervention components were actually delivered.
Declared interests
No conflict of interest was declared by the authors.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that this multicomponent nursing program prevents postpartum depressive symptoms. It added a class, conversation cards, and WeChat group to routine maternity care, but there was no control group, anxiety scores did not change, and the proportion scoring over 10 stayed at 21.1%.