Women's Mental Health in the Postpartum Period in Kosovo
Keywords:
Mental health, postpartum period, Kosovo, access to mental health servicesAbstract
Mental health refers to the condition of the individual with an emphasis on psychological and emotional well-being, while the postpartum period is the immediate period after childbirth. The purpose of this paper is to address the postpartum period with a focus on mothers, in a rather under-researched field in Kosovo - mothers' mental health. In this paper, a mixed-method research design was used (qualitative and quantitative), and the data were collected using a questionnaire with women/mothers (N = 503) and interviews with mothers (N = 6) where half of them were participants who self-reported psychological distress during the postpartum period. The results highlight the high prevalence of mental health problems in the postpartum period, especially in younger mothers, and the lack of access to mental health services.
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