Social support in the postpartum period: Women's views on needs, expectations, and mobilization of support

Background: Postpartum depression negatively affects the quality of life and daily functioning of mothers and infants. Lack of social support, as well as general dissatisfaction with available support are known to increase the risk for postpartum depression. Objective: We conducted a focus group study to examine postpartum women's views, needs and expectations surrounding social support following childbirth and how these relate to their overall postpartum experience. Methods: Four focus groups were conducted with an ethnically diverse sample of women (N=33) who participated in a postpartum depression intervention trial and completed the final 6 month follow-up survey. All focus groups were professionally audio-recorded and transcribed in their entirety. Atlas.ti software and in-depth qualitative methods were used to analyze the data. Results: We found that women identified household chores, baby care, personal care, getting sleep and caring for other children as major support needs. While most women considered both emotional and instrumental support to be important, they felt that meeting basic and instrumental support needs presented the biggest challenges postpartum. Women mobilized support among their social networks by directly voicing their needs, making lists, educating partners and using partners as mediators. They also identified several barriers to mobilizing support, including fear of judgment, pride and expecting support to come naturally, without need to ask others for help. Conclusion: Results highlight the need for continued examination of social support in the postpartum period. By identifying the kind of support needed and valued by postpartum women we can potentially strengthen postpartum depression intervention efforts.