1. Introduction
1.1. Background
Postpartum depression lies within the category of Perinatal
Mood Disorders and is defined as moderate to severe depression in
a woman after she has given birth. It is the most common medical
complication of childbearing.1 Wei G et al2 found the total rate of
major and minor postpartum depression for all cultures to be 25.3%.
According to Moses-Kolko et al,3 in the perinatal woman, there is
a high co-morbidity between depression and anxiety symptoms,
with 10% of women developing anxiety either alone or in combination
with depression.
Allopathic treatment of depression in adults is predominately
prescription antidepressant medication, the most prescribed class of
medication in the US for those 20e59 years of age.4 Individual, group
and support therapies are also widely used in the treatment of
depression and anxiety with varying degrees of success. The postpartum
woman, generally healthy, young and without medical
conditions requiring medications, is often reluctant to accept
a psychiatric diagnosis and prescriptions for medication. As a consequence,
these women’s depression and anxiety are undetected and
undertreated.5 New mothers, often fearful of pharmaceutical medications
for themselves or concerns for their breast-fed infant, seek
complementary alternative therapies to treat their symptoms.
Complementary therapies are widely accessed for various
physical and emotional discomforts, especially among women.