Maternal Depression and Infant’s Growth during Breast-feeding: Is There Any Relationship?

Depression is a worldwide disease affecting more than 300 million people and is associated with disability, burden of disease, and significant health care costs. Children’s nutritional status can definitely affect their growth. The burden of malnutrition remains high in developing countries and reduces the potential for individual, social, and economic development. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between breastfeeding depression and infant’s growth. This is a cross-sectional study on 90 breastfeeding mothers and their 2-4 month old infants in Yasuj. Data collection in mothers was done by measuring anthropometric variables and by interviews through questionnaires. For assessing maternal depression, Beck Depression Inventory questionnaire was applied, and neonatal physical growth was evaluated by head circumference, weight, and length Z-scores of 2-4 months old infants. The result showed that the relationship between maternal depression score and Z scores of infants’ weight, height, and head circumference was not significant (P>0.05 for all). There were no differences between depression scores of mothers and infants’ growth in different groups of education or occupation among mothers (P>0.05 for all). There was a significant relationship between maternal waist circumference with hip circumference, weight, and number of children (P<0.001 for all). This study showed that depressed mothers, despite having depression, were concerned with the optimal growth of their infants. However, tracking children’s developmental status and maternal depression over the time (especially in depressed mothers or underweight infants) in several stages can be helpful in increasing information in this regard.