In recent years, a large, prospective nationwide cohort study ( n = 82,489) called the “Japan Environment and Children’s Study” (JECS) showed a 13.7% prevalence of postpartum depression among women 1 month after childbirth. For this reason, we thought it would be relevant to conduct research focused on the country and culture of Japan. Previous reports have suggested that perinatal depression may be affected by differences in economic status, social support, or ethnicity in the country where patients live. Therefore, it is problematic to apply current epidemiology data from different countries and regions to the Japanese context because of the social differences. For this reason, mental stress in women during the perinatal period is strong, and the risk of developing depression may be high. In particular, the aging rate is 27.3%, which is the highest rate among developed countries, and support from family members, such as maternal parents, is weakening. In addition, with the aging population and the increasing prevalence of nuclear families, social support in the perinatal period tends to be insufficient. However, there is insufficient social infrastructure for childcare, such as daycare, and men are not very involved in parenting. Since the establishment of an equal employment policy for women in 1985, the employment rate of women has rapidly increased in Japan. Social support from family members has a strong impact on postpartum depression. Postpartum depression has been reported to occur due to biological, psychological and social problems. Recently, estimates of the prevalence of postpartum depression in Western countries have reportedly been in the range of 13–19%. In 1996, in the first meta-analysis of postpartum depression, the prevalence of postpartum depression was reported to be 13%. In 1987, Cox developed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and screening measures have since progressed rapidly. Epidemiological investigations have been conducted worldwide since then. In 1968, Pitt reported that the prevalence of postpartum depression was 11%. Perinatal depression, a mental illness that occurs either during pregnancy or within the first 12 months after delivery, affects the health and development of mothers and children. Hence, we suggest that healthcare professionals need to pay more attention to primiparas than multiparas regarding postpartum depression. In addition, we found that the prevalence of postpartum depression in primiparas was higher than that in multiparas. During pregnancy, the prevalence of depression increases as childbirth approaches, and the prevalence of depression was found to decrease in the postpartum period over time. The prevalence of postpartum depression at 1 month after childbirth was found to be 14.3% among Japanese women. We also identified that compared with multiparas, primiparas was significantly associated with a higher prevalence of postpartum depression the adjusted relative risk was 1.76.

The period prevalence of postpartum depression was 15.1% within the first month, 11.6% in 1–3 months, 11.5% in 3–6 months and 11.5% in 6–12 months after birth. The period prevalence of depression at pregnancy was 14.0% in the second trimester and 16.3% in the third trimester. The point prevalence of postpartum depression at 1 month was 14.3% incorporating 108,431 Japanese women. We reviewed 1317 abstracts, retrieved 301 articles and included 123 studies. Data were extracted from published reports. We searched two databases, PubMed and ICHUSHI, to identify studies published from January 1994 to December 2017 with data on the prevalence of antenatal or postnatal depression. The purpose of our study is to reveal the reliable estimates about the prevalence of perinatal depression among Japanese women. However, not enough reviews have been done, and a certain consensus has not been obtained about the prevalence of perinatal depression among Japanese women. Perinatal depression is one of the important mental illnesses among women.

Kokono vs kenshin meada