Introduction: Postpartum blues is a common mental distress which occurs in the first days of the postpartum period. Experts believe that various risk factors contribute to the postpartum blues, during which the mother feels desperate, worried and overwhelmed. Timely diagnosis and support provided to the woman are crucial in order to prevent the worsening of postpartum blues to postpartum depression. Purpose: The purpose of our diploma work is to define the characteristics of postpartum blues in recent mothers, review existing scales, designed specifically for assessing risk factors for postpartum blues and translating a screening questionnaire and test it on a sample of Slovenian women. Methods: We applied a quantitative method of work. The theoretical part focused on reviewing the existing literature. Furthermore, we carried out an anonymous online surey. The data collected were a foundation for our pilot study assessing the quality of Slovenian translation of the postpartum blues scale. The ethical aspects of our study were approved by the Department of Midwifery, Faculty of Health sciences, University of Ljubljana. Sample was gathered via the snowball method. Results: The results of our study showed that more than half of recent mothers have experienced postpartum blues. We also noticed a slight increase of postpartum blues in multiparas. One of the risk factors for postpartum blues was also living without a partner. Discussion and conclusion: Our results suggest that the Kennerley and Gath blues questionnaire is quick, simple and reliable (Cronbach alpha coefficient was measured 0.995) tool, suitable for screening women in the postpartum period. With the questionnaire, we could screen women at the discharge from the hospital or during the early postpartum visits at home. This would enable an early detection of at risk mothers and we could offer them the support they need.
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