Shifting landscapes: immigrant women and postpartum depression

Health Care Women Int. 2008 Jul;29(6):593-617. doi: 10.1080/07399330802089156.

Abstract

Utilizing an ethnographic narrative approach, we explored in the Canadian context the experiences of three groups of first-generation Punjabi-speaking, Cantonese-speaking, and Mandarin-speaking immigrant women with depression after childbirth. The information emerging from women's narratives of their experiences reveals the critical importance of the sociocultural context of childbirth in understanding postpartum depression. We suggest that an examination of women's narratives about their experiences of postpartum depression can broaden the understanding of the kinds of perinatal supports women need beyond health care provision and yet can also usefully inform the practice of health care professionals.

MeSH terms

  • Acculturation
  • Adult
  • Anthropology, Cultural
  • Asian People / ethnology*
  • Asian People / psychology
  • Canada
  • Depression, Postpartum / ethnology*
  • Depression, Postpartum / psychology
  • Emigration and Immigration*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Life Change Events
  • Middle Aged
  • Mothers / psychology*
  • Narration
  • Postnatal Care / psychology*
  • Postpartum Period / ethnology
  • Postpartum Period / psychology
  • Pregnancy
  • Social Support