Article
Postpartum Traditions, Mental Health, and Help-Seeking Considerations Among Vietnamese American Women: a Mixed-Methods Pilot Study
The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research
(2017)
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore Vietnamese American mothers’ perceptions and experiences with postpartum traditions, postpartum depression (PPD), and mental health help-seeking behavior. Participants were 15 Vietnamese mothers who had given birth to at least one live infant within the previous year. A screening tool revealed that a third of the mothers had probable PPD. More than half reported having recent/current postpartum “sadness” during the interviews. Postpartum traditions played important roles in their well-being and maintaining strong cultural values. However, some reported feelings of isolation and the desire to be able to carry out postpartum traditions more frequently. Many who had reported sadness said that they would not seek professional help; all had felt that their condition was not “severe” enough to warrant help-seeking. Future PPD interventions should consider the importance of postpartum cultural traditions and address help-seeking barriers as ways to prevent the adverse effects of untreated PPD.
Keywords
- Mental Health Service,
- Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale,
- Postpartum Depression,
- Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale Score,
- Mental Health Service Utilization
Disciplines
Publication Date
July, 2017
DOI
10.1007/s11414-015-9476-5
Publisher Statement
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Citation Information
Van Ta Park, Deepika Goyal, Tung Nguyen, Hong Lien, et al.. "Postpartum Traditions, Mental Health, and Help-Seeking Considerations Among Vietnamese American Women: a Mixed-Methods Pilot Study" The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research Vol. 44 Iss. 3 (2017) p. 428 - 441 ISSN: 1094-3412 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/deepika_goyal/14/