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CONFERENCE PROGRAM AND ICGCS 2021

ABSTRACT BOOK

Gender Disaster and Pandemy

Social and Religious Support for Postpartum Blues during

COVID-19 Pandemic

in Cangkringan

Sumarni DW, Santi Y, Ronny TW, Prima DR, Diannisa IES,

Siti NR

Universitas Gadjah Mada

Managing postpartum blues during the COVID-19 pandemic is important and must be prioritized. This

study supports two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) namely SDGs 5.1 and 5.2 for gender equality,
which aims to reduce maternal and infant mortality and the elimination of all forms of discrimination and

violence against women and SDG 3.4, which aims to reduce the number of premature deaths due to non-
communicable diseases, through prevention, treatment and promotion of mental health and well-being.
Postpartum women are highly vulnerable to mental disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-

19 pandemic constitutes a highly traumatic event. Its sudden outbreak and quick transmission caused
widespread fear and death across populations around the world. Currently, many residents of Cangkringan

Sub-district of Sleman in Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia have tested positive for COVID-19. Cangkringan
was initially listed in the green zone. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, pregnant and postpartum women fear
the threat of transmission and worry about their own safety and their babies’ safety during pregnancy

check-ups, birth delivery process and the postpartum period. Heavy and prolonged stressors during the
COVID-19 pandemic such as experiencing economic difficulties, husbands being laid off from work,

women losing their jobs, family conflicts, domestic violence, and the burden of accompanying children
study online exacerbate stress during pregnancy, which in turn exacerbates the postpartum blues. Further,

the culture of family and neighbors visiting newborns without practicing safe, COVID-19 health protocols
and a culture of over-criticizing, judging, and lack of appreciation for postpartum women on their

mothering skills constitute additional stressors. Inadequate and late management of postpartum blues
can lead to postpartum depression and risk of postpartum psychosis. A consequence of postpartum
depression and psychosis is that mothers are at risk of hurting their own babies as well as committing

suicide. One effort to overcome postpartum blues is for husbands and midwives to provide social and
religious support for postpartum mothers.

This study aims to study the effectiveness of social support and religious support by husbands and
midwives on managing postpartum blues in postpartum mothers in the vicinity of Cangkringan Health

Center in Sleman. This type of research is a quasi-experimental research with a pre-test and post-test
control design. The study was conducted during the period March to June 2021. The research subjects

were all postpartum women who gave birth at the Azizah, Kisti Arum and PKU Muhammadiya Midwifery
Clinics in the vicinity of Cangkringan Sleman Health Center. A total of Research tools include Training
Modules for Husband and Midwives on Delivering Social Support and Religious Support to postpartum

women and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) to measure depression scores in
postpartum women. Statistical analysis techniques used were F-test and T-test with a= 5%.

The results of this study are as follows. Up to 66.6% (n=24) of postpartum mothers in this study suffered
from postpartum blues. After training midwives and husbands on how to provide social and religious

support for postpartum mothers, average EPDS scores decreased from 12.8 to 7.33.
In conclusion, social support and religious support by midwives and husbands can reduce average EPDS

score of postpartum women in Cangkringan Sleman affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: midwife, religious support, social support, postpartum blues, husband

Short Biography:

Dr. Sumarni DW is a lecturer at the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Public

Health and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada. I am especially interested in promoting

mental health in women and children.

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