Effects of postpartum depression on breastfeeding and infant growth

Although pregnancy and birth seem to be a normal life event, these are morestressful for women. These emotional changes affect negatively women?s lifeactivities, their social life and individual relationships. While many women are ableto cope with physiological, psychological and social changes of pregnancy, somewomen experience intense psychiatric syndrome. In this work, we aimed to studyfeeding attitudes of mothers with and without postpartum depression (PPD) and toinvestigate the effects of PPD on breastfeeding and infant growth.This work was carried out at Ahmet Necdet Sezer Hospital of AfyonkarahisarKocatepe University between 01.01.2006-30.06-2006. A total of 131 women inAhmet Necdet Sezer Hospital of Afyonkarahisar Kocatepe University wereinterviewed. The questionnaire which consists of 25 questions was used, asking indetail about socio-demographic properties of infants and their mothers. During 1 and5 months postpartum all mothers were asked to complete the Edinburgh PostnatalDepression Scale (EPDS). Considering the EPDS score of mothers, two groups werestudied, a risk group scored ≤12 and a control group scored ≥13. Infant weights werereported during the visit from birth to 4 months. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U and Fisher?s Exact Chi-Square tests.The rate of PPD for mothers was found to be 22.9 %. Significant relationshipswas found between risk group and control group for feeding attitudes andbreastfeeding (p<0.05). When it is compared the infant growth according to PPDscores between two groups, infants of mothers in risk group have clearly poor weightgain compared with control group. So, postpartum depression affects negativelymother?s life activities, social life and their relationships, and also infant growth.Keywords: Postpartum, Depression, Mothers, Breastfeeding, Growth.