E. Adamek(Phd), MargaretTesfaye, Asnake2020-09-292023-11-042020-09-292023-11-042020-03http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/22503Postpartum depression (PPD) is a pervasive disease in the big picture of reproductive health. The World Health Organization declared there is no health if the issues of mental health are ignored. Postpartum depression is a serious mental health disability characterized by a prolonged period of emotional disturbance, occurring at a time of major life change and increased responsibilities in the care of a newborn infant. PPD impacts a mother's thinking, feeling or mood and may affect her ability to relate to others and function on a daily basis. Postpartum Depression (PPD) is a serious public health problem that leads to high maternal morbidity and mortality, enormously affecting the infant, family, and society. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated factors of PPD. This study also aims to explain mothers‘ experience of emotional distress in their first postnatal year. A facility-based cross-sectional mixed method approach was employed. Approximately 550 postnatal mothers who gave birth within the past one year had participated in the quantitative part of the study, with 10% non-response rate i.e. 500 participant and 17 research participants were involved in the qualitative part of the study, out of which 10 are postpartum mothers and seven of them are professional midwives. For the quantitative data, a simple random sampling (SRS) technique was used to identify the sampling units from the public health facilities based on their pre-determined patient flow rate. An SRS technique was used to identify study participants using a lottery method. The data were cleaned accordingly and then exported to SPSS Windows version 20.0 for further analysis. The magnitude of postpartum depression among the study population was 23.2%. Postpartum depression is higher among mothers with age below 28 years. domestic violence, unplanned pregnancy, baby with sleeping problems, health of the baby, lack of social support and partner‘s substance use has significant association with postpartum depression. The magnitude of postpartum depression in East Shewa zone, East Ethiopia was high. This underline the x necessity of giving attention to PPD by policy makers, health professionals and social care planners for integrating of screening strategies for depression following childbirth. Keywords: East Shewa Zone, Ethiopia, Emotional distress, Postpartum depression (PPD) and Social support.enEast Shewa Zone, Ethiopia, Emotional distress, Postpartum depression (PPD) and Social support.Thesis