April 10, 2023

Professor Johnathan Fisher

San Juan College
4601 College Boulevard
Farmington, NM 87402

Dear Professor Fisher:

I am submitting the attached report on Postpartum Depression that was requested on March 2,
2023.

This report provides information related to postpartum depression that many women experience
after childbirth. The report includes statistics from several states that report the percentage of
women who have depressive symptoms during the postpartum period. Furthermore, the report
includes some risk factors that pertain to maternal demographics which increase a woman’s risk
for developing postpartum depression after childbirth. Lastly, the report identifies interventions
to treat women who develop postpartum depression and include the most effective intervention.

Data figures within this report are comprised of sources from government agencies at both
national and state levels. In addition, there is data from an article in a journal that focuses on
mental health issues.

I hope this report provides you with the information and data you requested on postpartum
depression. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions at 505-515-9222 or by email
at sbegay01@my.sanjuancollege.edu.

Sincerely,

Samaletta Begay

i
POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION

Samaletta Begay
ENGL 2210-101X
San Juan College
April 10, 2023
ii
 POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION

submitted to

Professor Johnathan Fisher

San Juan College
Farmington, NM

April 10, 2023

by
Samaletta Begay

This report details current data on the percentage of women by state who develop postpartum
depression after delivery. Data figures in the report also provide certain maternal demographic
risk factors that increase a new mother’s likelihood of developing postpartum depression after
childbirth. Certain risk factors include a woman’s age, race/ethnicity, marital status, education
level, and location of residence. The report also includes interventions used to treat postpartum
depression such as psychosocial support, cognitive therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, and
professionally based postpartum home visits. It also identifies which interventions are more
effective.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE............................................................................................................................................III

LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................................................V

1.0 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................1

2.0 POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION RATE BY STATE.................................................................2

2.1 Summary.........................................................................................................................2
2.2 Interpretation...................................................................................................................3

3.0 MATERNAL DEMOGRAPHICS LINKED TO PPD...............................................................4

3.1 Summary.........................................................................................................................5
3.2 Interpretation...................................................................................................................5

4.0 EVIDENCE-BASED INTERVENTIONS.................................................................................6

4.1 Summary.........................................................................................................................6
4.2 Interpretation...................................................................................................................7

CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................8

REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................9

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 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Percentage of Women with Symptoms of Depression by State……………………2

Figure 2. Prevalence of Maternal Postpartum Depression by Maternal Demographics……...4

Figure 3. Psychosocial and Psychological Interventions……………………………………..6

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1.1 Purpose 
Postpartum depression is common in women who just delivered their babies. Rates of
postpartum depression are higher in certain US states. Certain factors related to a mother’s
demographic information make them at an increased risk of developing postpartum depression
after delivery. There are interventions that are proven to treat those struggling with symptoms of
depression during the postpartum period.
1.2 Background 
Postpartum depression affects so many women and is fairly common during the postpartum
period. These women struggle with symptoms of low mood, irritability, decreased energy or
motivation, insomnia, loss of appetite, and difficulty bonding with their babies. In more extreme
cases, postpartum depression could lead to suicidal or homicidal ideation that puts the women
and their babies at extreme risk for harm.
1.3 Scope 
This report includes postpartum depression rates reported to the CDC. In addition, this report
provides certain demographic information that are contributors to increasing the risk of
postpartum depression in women. Furthermore, it includes evidence-based interventions that are
proven to help treat postpartum depression in women. This report does not include numbers from
all the states, and the demographic information included is only specific to New Mexico. The
reason for focusing on New Mexico is that it is one of the states reported to have the highest
rates of postpartum depression.

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 Postpartum Depression Rates by State
2.0 Introduction
The first data comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (see Fig. 1).
According to the Centers for Disease Control, “CDC is the nation’s leading science-based, data-
driven, service organization that protects the public’s health” (“About CDC”, 2022). This
information was collected by an organization known to provide data that is backed by scientific
evidence for the purpose of educating and safeguarding the public.

Figure 1: “Percentage of women with symptoms of depression after birth varies by state.” Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/vital-signs/identifying-maternal-
depression/index.html

2.1 Summary
The data illustrates the percentage of women who develop depressive symptoms during the
postpartum period after birth. According to the data, 13% of women who deliver have depressive
symptoms. The data shows that the states of New Mexico, Wyoming, Louisiana, Michigan, and
West Virginia have the highest reported rates of postpartum depressive symptoms after delivery
at a rate greater than 15%.

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The data also shows the states with the least rates of depressive symptoms after delivery which
include Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Puerto Rico with
rates less than 11%.
2.2 Interpretation
Data from this figure gives the reports from states who reported to the CDC the number of
women with depressive symptoms after delivering their babies. The data from the states that
reported the percentage of women with postpartum depressive symptoms indicated that there are
women in numerous states who suffer from postpartum depression.
There is great data from the states that reported but not all the states have reported making the
data incomplete. If data was collected and reported from all the states, would it increase the
average or decrease it? Data was reported in 2018, it would be interesting to see how Covid-19
impacted the rates.

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 Maternal Demographics Linked to PPD

3.0 INTRODUCTION
The second data on this postpartum depression presentation is from the New Mexico Department
of Health (NMDOH) (see fig. 2). NMDOH is an agency that is part of the State of New Mexico
executive branch and is” …a statewide system of Health Promotion and Community Health
Improvement, Chronic Disease Prevention, Infectious Disease Prevention, Injury Prevention, and
other Public Health services” (“About Us”). The agency’s primary focus is to help make the lives
of New Mexicans better through prevention programs. The agency is comprised of 8 divisions
that address public health. These divisions include Epidemiology, scientific laboratory, and
developmental disabilities to name a few. Furthermore, the agency offers an array of data
collected at the state level and reports on various issues to inform New Mexico residents and
those who provide services to residents in an effort to prevent and improve lives.

Figure 2. “Prevalence of Maternal Postpartum Depression by Maternal Demographics, NM

PRAMS, 2013-2017” https://www.nmhealth.org/data/view/maternal/2436/

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3.1 Summary
The data from this figure illustrates important factors that are key contributors to increasing the
risk a woman has of developing postpartum depression after delivery. The number range on the
x-axis begins with 0 and ends with 25 to show the percentage of contributing factors a woman
might have. By starting the chart with 0 and increasing it to 25, it shows the increase for each
factor.
This figure has very interesting data about each of the factors and shows what the differences
are. There are seven factors that include age, race/ethnicity, education level, marital status,
maternal residence, federal poverty level, and prenatal care insurance. According to the data,
women who are 24 years old and younger are more likely to have postpartum depression in
contrast to women who are over the age of 24. Native American and Hispanic women are more
at risk than non-Hispanic women. Women who completed less than a high school education or
only completed high school are significantly more likely to have postpartum depression
compared to women who have a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate degree. Unmarried women
who reside in rural areas also have an increased risk as well as women who live in poverty and
have Medicaid as their insurance carrier for prenatal care.
3.2 Interpretation
This figure provides a very informative collection of data about factors that contribute to women
developing postpartum depression. The data suggests that a woman’s socioeconomic status plays
a significant role in the likelihood a woman has of developing postpartum depression. It appears
women who are over the age of 24, with a good educational background, are married, residing in
metropolitan areas, and not living in poverty have a reduced risk. On the other hand, teenage and
young women, single mothers who live in poverty in rural areas and are Native American or
Hispanic are significantly at greater risk for postpartum depression.
Since the data is only collected from women in New Mexico, it only provides information for
one state out of 50 in the United States. It could be assumed that socioeconomic status would
continue to play a significant role in the risk factors of developing postpartum depression in all
states across the US. This data also only covers seven risk factors but what would the data show
if other factors such as a women’s history of depression or other mental health disorders, trauma,
or domestic violence were included? Would those factors increase the risk more than 25%?
Overall, data from this figure provides a great overview of important risk factors that contribute
to postpartum depression. This data provides valuable information that could be used in
prevention programs, and aid in developing screening tools during pregnancy that could initiate
early intervention strategies to help reduce the risk.

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 Evidence-based Interventions
4.0 INTRODUCTION
The second data on this postpartum depression presentation is from the journal Annals of
General Psychiatry, an article titled “Prevalence of postpartum depression and interventions
utilized for its management” (see figure 3). The Annals of General Psychiatry Journal is a
collection of articles based on research about mental health and psychiatry. Annals of General
Psychiatry “emphasizes a biopsychosocial approach to illness and health and strongly supports
and follows the principles of evidence-based medicine” (About). The journal articles are peer-
reviewed before they are published.

Figure 3: “Psychosocial and psychological interventions.” Annals of General Psychiatry,

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12991-018-0188-0

4.1 Summary
This data figure illustrates the different interventions that are commonly used to treat postpartum
depression. The slices are color-coded to represent a different intervention. Each pie slice has a
percentage number that shows how each intervention was effective in the treatment of
postpartum depression. The color-coded pie slices combined total 100%.
There are 4 interventions represented within the pie chart that include psychosocial support,
cognitive therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, and professionally based postpartum home visits.
According to the figure, psychosocial support at 34% is the most effective intervention in
treating postpartum depression followed by home visits at 28%, then interpersonal
psychotherapy at 20%, and lastly cognitive therapy at 18%.

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4.2 Interpretation
One key point from this pie chart is that there are evidence-based interventions that can be used
to treat postpartum depression in mothers during the postpartum period. Psychosocial support is
one intervention that is shown to be most effective and can come from support from partners,
family, friends, the medical care team, and the mother’s spiritual or cultural beliefs. These
important aspects in a woman’s life provide her with support and a network she can rely on or
turn to when needed during the postpartum period.
Although the chart identifies 4 interventions, it does not list the specific methods within each
intervention. The chart could offer more details about each intervention that might include a list
of the different interventions within each color. It would provide an in-depth view of each
intervention that might include which support is most important. Perhaps it could indicate that
spouses or partners are a better support network as opposed to the mother’s friends or family.
In addition, the chart does not include other interventions such as medication used to treat
depression.
All in all, this pie chart provides a great visual of the most common interventions used to treat
depression. This chart also provides the individual or their care team with information about
effective interventions. This could provide valuable information that aids in structuring
prevention or early intervention strategies to reduce the number of women who might otherwise
suffer from postpartum depression.

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6.0 Conclusion
This report about postpartum depression shows some of the states that have higher rates of
postpartum depression. Though not all the states have reported their rates to the CDC, rates are
high in certain states including New Mexico. A woman’s demographic information also plays a
key role in a new mother’s risk of developing postpartum depression. In New Mexico, it is
shown that women who are younger than the age of 25, are Native American or Hispanic, have
less than a college degree, are unmarried, reside in rural areas, live in poverty, and receive their
medical care with state-funded medical insurance are all at an increased risk of postpartum
depression after delivery. While rates of postpartum depression are high for certain women, there
are interventions that prevent and treat postpartum depression. Research has shown that
psychosocial support in the postpartum period is the most effective intervention to treat
postpartum depression. Furthermore, studies show home visits, interpersonal psychotherapy, and
cognitive therapies are all evidence-based interventions that can treat postpartum depression in
women. While many women struggle with depression and low mood following delivery, there
are interventions that are proven to prevent or treat postpartum depression.

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 References

Annals of General Psychiatry. BioMed Central. (2023). Retrieved March 27, 2023, from

https://annals-general-psychiatry.biomedcentral.com/about

Anokye, R., Acheampong, E., Budu-Ainooson, A., Obeng, E. I., & Akwasi, A. G. (2018).

Prevalence of postpartum depression and interventions utilized for its management. Annals

of General Psychiatry, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12991-018-01 88-0

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, August 31). About CDC. Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention. Retrieved March 9, 2023, from

https://www.cdc.gov/about/index.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, May 2). Infographic: Identifying maternal

depression. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved March 9, 2023, from

https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/vital-signs/identifying-maternal-depression/

index.html

New Mexico Department of Health . (n.d.). About Us. Retrieved March 9, 2023, from

https://www.nmhealth.org/about/

New Mexico Department of Health. (2019). (rep.). Postpartum Depression - New Mexico

PRAMS. Retrieved March 9, 2023, from

https://www.nmhealth.org/data/view/maternal/2436/.