TITLE:
Screening for Depression among Pregnant Women in Peripheral Care Units in Lomé: Knowledge and Practices of State Midwives and Auxiliary Midwives
AUTHORS:
Daméga Wenkourama, Ayoko A. Ketevi, Saliou Salifou, Sonia Kanekatoua, Gnargonna Bawi, Charfoundine Affo, Ayaba T. D. Salako, Kolou Simliwa Dassa
KEYWORDS:
Depression, Pregnancy, Midwives, Auxiliary Midwives, Togo
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Depression,
Vol.12 No.3,
August
25,
2023
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Depression is recognized as a public health issue among pregnant women.
The objective of this study was to describe the knowledge and the practices of
the State Midwives (SMW) and State Auxiliary Midwives (SAM) in relation to the
depression in the pregnant women. Framework and Methodology: Our study was descriptive cross-sectional conducted from May 13, 2019 to July
16, 2019 among the SMWs and the SAMs who intervened in maternity wards of the
public Peripheral Care Units (PCU) of Health District No. 5 (HD5) of the Lomé-Commune
Health Region (LCHR). Results: The average age of respondents was 35 ±
11.3 years with extremes of 23 and 51 years. Thirty respondents (68.2%) had
already worked for at least 5 years or more. Forty-two of the respondents
(95.5%) experienced less than 5 characteristic symptoms of the depression.
Forty respondents (90.9%) were not aware of the existence of specific screening
tools for the depression. Thirty-three respondents (75.0%) had never screened
the symptoms of the depression among the pregnant women. Conclusion: On-the-job ongoing mental health training sessions were needed to address the
gaps for these claimants.