Access to Maternal Healthcare and Socio-economic Factors Determining Postpartum Maternal Mental Health Among Women in Arunachal Pradesh: An Urban-Rural Analysis

Abstract

Pregnancy and childbirth are important aspects of a woman’s motherhood journey.But most women often experience certain mental imbalances related to postpartum depression and other related disorders. These issues need to be addressed from the outset, as they pose serious health risks to both the mother and the child. In the remote and rural areas of Arunachal Pradesh, women often have limited access to maternal healthcare due to theirlow economic conditions,which ultimately leads to negligence in their postpartum mental health.The main objective of this study is to examine the association between maternal healthcare access and socioeconomic characteristics with postpartum depression among women in Arunachal Pradesh, with special reference to urban–rural differentials.The study is based on primary data collected from 400 women from the urban and rural areas of Arunachal Pradesh. Both descriptive statistics and cross-tabulation techniques were used to examine the relationship between the dependent and independent variables.The results of the study indicate that a considerable prevalence of postpartum depressive symptoms has been found in both urban and rural areas, with slightly higher levels of cases encountered among urban mothers. Younger women, mothers with higher parity, inadequate utilisation of antenatal and postnatal care services and those facing socioeconomic disadvantages were found to be more vulnerable to depressive symptoms after childbirth.This study emphasiseson the need to strengthen maternal healthcare accessibility in Arunachal Pradesh and to integrate mental health screening within antenatal and postnatal care services. Thus, improving healthcare utilisation and addressing disparities in socioeconomicconditions may help in reducing the burden of postpartum depression among women in the state.