Literature reveals the burden of postpartum
depression (PPD) globally. There is however a lacuna
of knowledge on the interactions of social support,
personality traits and PPD among Nigerian post-natal
women. This study was carried out to observe the
extent to which social support and personality traits
determine levels of PPD among postnatal women
using the University College Hospital Ibadan, Oyo
state, Nigeria. A total of 214 postnatal women mean
age of 32.3 ± 7.78 were purposively selected for this
study. The women responded to the multidimensional
scale of perceived social support (MSPSS), MINI
international pool item personality (MINI-IPIP) and
the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS).
Results show that there was a high prevalence of PPD
among the respondents as 54.5% reported mildmoderate
levels of PPD, 18.0% reported moderatesevere
levels of depression and 18.0% reported severe
levels of PPD. Social support was observed to
significantly predicted postpartum depression among
the participants (β= -.16, t= -2.41, p < .05). Social
support and neuroticism (F= 6.56, p < .05) and support
and openness (F= 3.99, p < .05) were found to jointly
significant determine PPD among the participants.
Openness (β= -.14, t= -2.06, p < .05) and neuroticism
(β= -.18, t= -2.69, p < .05) personality traits
independently and significantly predicted PPD.
Finally, the age of respondents significantly predicted
PPD (β= .143, t= -2.08, p < .05). The study concludes that there is a high prevalence of PPD among postnatal women using UCH and that postpartum women who receive enough social support from family, friends, or significant others are less likely to experience depressive symptoms or develop PPD. Also, personality traits of openness and neuroticism and age maternal age independently predicted PPD. Adequate social support during pregnancy and at postnatal periods is recommended.