There are studies in the literature that associate oxytocin level with postpartum depression. This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between oxytocin levels measured during pregnancy and postpartum depression symptoms.

Introduction and purpose: There are studies in the literature that associate oxytocin level with postpartum depression. This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between oxytocin levels measured during pregnancy and postpartum depression symptoms.

Method: The study was conducted with 70 women who met the research criteria. Data collection was done in two interviews. The first meeting is 30-38 at the week of gestation, the second interview is 4-12 at the week of postpartum. It was done between weeks. In each interview, a data collection form was applied first and then a saliva sample was taken. Data collection form; The questions prepared by the researchers consisted of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 program and the significance value was taken as p <0.05.

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18 years of age or older, and having a pregnancy of 30 weeks or more

Exclusion Criteria:

• previous mental illness history, miscarriage or stillbirth history, multiple pregnancy, fetal malformation, antidepressant or anxiolytic drug use, existing chronic disease,preterm labor is the development of maternal or neonatal complications at birth, hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit or congenital disease.

Pregnancy and postpartum period

Based on the study conducted by Eapen et al. (2014), for the relationship between oxytocin and postpartum depression symptoms, based on the correlation coefficient for the periods during and after pregnancy; For r = -0.35, a minimum sample size of 61 with 5% error and 80% power has been determined. Since there may be a quit situation during the study, the sample size was determined as 67 by expanding it with a share of 10%.