Post‐partum depression and infant growth in a South African peri‐urban settlement

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Abstract
Aim To examine the association between maternal post-natal depression and infant growth. Background Infant growth has recently been shown, in two studies from South Asia, to be adversely affected by maternal depression in the early post-partum period. It is uncertain whether a similar association obtains in developing countries outside Asia. Method A sample of 147 mother–infant dyads was recruited from a peri-urban settlement outside Cape Town and seen at 2 and 18 months post partum. Results No clear effect of post-partum depression on infant growth was found. Although maternal depression at 2 months was found to be associated with lower infant weight at 18 months, when birthweight was considered this effect disappeared. Conclusions Possible explanations for the non-replication of the South Asian findings are considered.