Maternal depression and infant growth and development in British Pakistani women: a cohort study

OBJECTIVES: Perinatal depression has been found to be a strong and independent risk factor for poor child growth and development in low-income South Asian populations. The authors aimed to study if there was a similar association in first and second-generation British women of Pakistani origin. DESIGN: A prospective cohort study. SETTING: The study was conducted in the North-West of England, in areas with high density of Pakistani-origin population. The subjects were recruited from Central Manchester Hospital in the City of Manchester and East Lancashire Hospital in Lancashire. PARTICIPANTS: 704 physically healthy women were assessed in two phases (screening and detailed assessment of high scorers and a proportion of low scorers) during the third trimester of pregnancy to obtain at birth a cohort of 63 infants of depressed mothers and 173 infants of psychologically well mothers. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: All infants were weighed and measured at birth and 6 months, and their development was assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development–Third Edition. RESULTS: There was no difference in the birth weight or weight and height at 6 months of infants of depressed mothers versus infants of psychologically well mothers. The only significant difference between the two groups was in the infants' adaptive behaviour; infants of depressed mothers scored significantly lower than those of psychologically well mothers (mean difference 4.6, t=2.81, df 195, p=0.006). The associations remained significant after adjustment for socio-demographic factors by multivariate analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal depression is not associated with impaired growth in this sample of British Pakistani women. There is, however, an association of prenatal depression with parent-reported problems in the infants' adaptive behaviour. Further research is needed to understand various pathways through which maternal depression affects infant outcomes in low- and high-income settings.