The relationship between obstetric violence and postpartum depression and post-traumatic stress disorder

Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between obstetric violence and postpartum depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in the obstetrics and gynecology outpatient clinics of Sivas Numune Hospital between October 2023 and March 2024. The sample was selected using the non-probability random sampling method from women who applied to the hospital's outpatient clinics for routine postpartum check-ups and who met the inclusion criteria and volunteered to participate in the study (n=386). The Personal Information Form, Obstetric Severity Scale (OSS), Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) and Impact of Events Scale (IES) were used to collect data. Data were collected from women who were 1-12 months postpartum via face-to-face interviews after outpatient clinic examinations. The data collection tools were applied by the researcher to each woman in the breastfeeding room on the outpatient clinic floor for 15-20 minutes, after which each woman was taken alone in the room. Results: In the study, it was found that there was a strong positive correlation between the women's OSQ total score and the OSQ sub-dimension abuse and violence score (r=0.997, p=0.01), and a weak positive correlation between the score of the non-consensual care sub-dimension (r=0.227, p=0.01). It was determined that there was a strong positive correlation between the women's OSQ score and the EPDSQ score (r=0.875, p=0.01). It was determined that there was a strong positive correlation between the women's OSQ total score and the OESQ total score (r=0.879, p=0.01), and a strong positive correlation between the OES sub-dimensions reliving, avoidance and hyperarousal scores (r=0.880, r=0.822, r=0.835; p=0.01, respectively). Conclusion: It was determined that as women's obstetric violence levels increased, the risk of depression and post-traumatic stress symptoms increased in the postpartum period. Key Words: Depression, Postpartum, Obstetric violence, Post-traumatic stress disorder