development of an outpatient, hospital-based lac-

tation program. Mother’s needs were greater at

days 3 to 5 postbirth than before discharge. The

outpatient program will be designed to provide the

following services: physical assessment of mother

and infant by an IBCLC, infant feeding evaluation,

education related to normal infant behavior, sup-

port in parenting skills, and access to rental of

hospital-grade breast pumps. These results provide

a pro¢le that will be useful for interventional studies.

How Mothers Describe Their Recovery From

Postpartum Depression

Poster Presentation

Objective

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a mood disor-

der that interferes with a woman’s experience

of motherhood and a¡ects her developing relation-

ship with the newborn.The condition is characterized

by altered thought processes and frequently

diminished sleep and appetite. Many quantitative

diagnostic instruments are used by health care prac-

titioners to measure PPD.The primary purpose of this

study was to describe and understand the experi-

ence of recovery from PPD.The second purpose was

to describe the facilitators of and barriers to recovery

from PPD as experienced by the participants.

Design

Inquiry and data interpretation adhered to the style

of naturalistic inquiry.

Setting

Each interview was conducted either in the partici-

pant’s home or local setting of her choice that

would ensure privacy.

Patients/Participants

Participants were nine women who were medi-

cally diagnosed with PPD and self-identi¢ed as

having recovered from PPD. They were recruited

primarily through health care providers, discus-

sions with friends, family, and colleagues of the

researcher.

Methods

During individual interviews at their home or other

locations they were asked the question, ‘‘How do

you describe your recovery from PPD’’? Two addi-

tional questions were asked to determine the

facilitators and barriers to their recovery. The audio-

recorded responses were transcribed and analyzed

for the presence of themes of the women’s percep-

tion of their recovery. Analysis of data was ongoing

during the time the interviews were conducted. Data

were collected until saturation occurred and no new

themes were revealed.

Results

Four thematic junctures reveal the varying times

during the participant’s recovery: prelude to recov-

ery, igniting recovery, recovery recounted as a

victory and realizing recovery was achieved.The fa-

cilitators of their recovery were support from others

and their own optimistic attitude. The barriers to re-

covery were lack of support from others, their own

negative attitude, and physical burdens.

Conclusion/Implications for Nursing Practice

This study revealed the progression from hopeless-

ness in PPD to recovery that was expressed as

various thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The im-

portance of maternal identity, control, support from

family and health care providers, and physical well-

ness are demonstrated in this study. These results

help us understand recovery from PPD.

Keywordslactationmaternal breastfeeding

concernsoutpatient lactation

follow-up

Childbearing

Pamela Williams, PhD, RNC,

Widener University,

Chester, PA

Keywordspostpartum depressionrecoveryfacilitatorsbarriersthematic junctures

Childbearing

JOGNN 2011; Vol. 40, Supplement 1 S107

Williams, P. R E S E A R C H

Proceedings of the 2011 AWHONN Convention