“POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES AND MIDWIFERY APPROACH Critically analyse and evaluate the impact of psychosocial factors upon the health and wellbeing of a woman during the postpartum period and their influence and relation to the development of postpartum depression (PPD). Scenario Emma is a 36-year-old primiparous mother of a baby girl named Sarah. She attended the six-week check appointment at the surgery presenting mild depressive symptoms, which had been ongoing for 2 weeks. Her symptoms included tiredness, sleep disturbance and loss of appetite. Additionally, Emma reported feeling low and tearful at times. Emma had a long labour resulting in an emergency forceps delivery after her baby’s heart rate dropped and suffered a 3rd degree tear. This lead to difficulty to mobilise associated with pain and temporary urinary incontinence, which made Emma feel too humiliated to go out anywhere. She preferred to just stay home rather than engage in any social activities, which she used to enjoy. Emma mentioned she was struggling with her new life, as she had always worked full time, and really didn’t spend much time at home at all. At consultation, Emma also mentioned she was finding it challenging to take care of the baby due to the lack of experience and knowledge about childbirth care and its responsibilities. She had no family around and, although the relationship with her husband was, overall, satisfactory, he was working hard and barely had time to spend with her or the baby. She didnt feel supported and reported recent arguments with her husband related to duties around the home and child care, which was causing her a lot of stress. Emma presented no medical or family psychiatric history. She was breastfeeding at the time. Based on her symptoms, PPD was suspected and Emma was asked to complete the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) (Cox et al., 1987), scoring 12 out of 30. Her answer to #10 was never.”