Effects of insomnia, fatigue and depression on the mothering role of primiparous mothers in the postpartum period

Introduction and Aim: The motherhood role is an important and critical role for women in all societies. Several factors affect the quality of the transition to motherhood and the mothers' feeling of self-sufficiency in this process. Of these factors, the effects of insomnia, fatigue and depressive symptoms, which are the most common postpartum problems, on the motherhood role have not been clearly determined in studies. Therefore, this study was carried out to determine the effect of insomnia, fatigue and depressive symptoms on the motherhood role in primiparous mothers. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive, cross-sectional and correlation-seeking study, 153 primiparous women selected using the simple random sampling method were included between March 1, 2020 and February 1, 2021. The Personal Information Form, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Visual Analog Fatigue Scale, Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale, Scale of Being the Mother of a New Baby were used to collect the data. The data were analyzed with the T test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test and Pearson correlation test. To determine the independent variables affecting the Scale of Being the Mother of a New Baby, the retrospective regression model was used. Results: There was a positive and moderate correlation between the postpartum sleep quality, fatigue and depression mean scores obtained by the women participating in the study. The scores obtained by the women from the Scale of Being the Mother of a New Baby were also correlated with those of almost all the other scales used in the study and their sub-dimensions. The correlation with the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale was negative and at the highest level (r=-0.520; p<0.001). Energy (p=0.021), depression (p=<0.001), infant care-related sleep problems (p=0.004) and good sleep quality (p=0.036) scores had a statistically significant effect on the motherhood role. All of these variables affected the motherhood role by 32.6%. Conclusion: Insomnia, fatigue and depression significantly affected the motherhood role. The women were more tired and had more depressive symptoms as their sleep quality decreased. The mothers' depressive symptoms and infant care-related sleep problems caused them to perceive the motherhood role negatively. Keywords: Motherhood Role, Postpartum Depression, Postpartum Insomnia, Postpartum Fatigue