Abstract
ObjectiveTo identify factors associated with infant growth up to 6 months, with a particular focus on maternal distress, and to explore the effect of ethnicity on any relation between maternal distress and infant growth.MethodsCohort study recruiting White and Pakistani women in the United Kingdom (UK). Infant growth was measured at birth and 6 months. Standard assessment of mental health (GHQ-28) was undertaken in pregnancy (26–28 weeks gestation) and 6 months postpartum. Modelling included social deprivation, ethnicity, and other known influences on infant growth such as maternal smoking and alcohol consumption.ResultsMaternal distress improved markedly from pregnancy to 6 months postpartum. At both times Pakistani women had more somatic and depression symptoms than White women. Depression in pregnancy (GHQ subscale D) was associated with lower infant growth at 6 months. Self-reported social dysfunction in pregnancy (GHQ subscale C) was associated with lower gestational age.. Pakistani women reported higher GHQ scores during pregnancy associated with smaller infants at birth. They lived in areas of higher social deprivation, reported less alcohol consumption and smoking postnatally, all independent influences on growth at 6 months.ConclusionsMaternal mental health in pregnancy is an independent influence on infant growth up to 6 months and is associated with ethnicity which was itself associated with deprivation in our sample. There is a complex relationship between symptoms of maternal distress, ethnicity, deprivation, health behaviours, and early infant growth. Measures should include both emotional and somatic symptoms and interventions to reduce risks of poor early growth need to include psychological and social components.
Highlights
We are interested in the prevalence and characteristics of mental health problems in pregnancy and especially in any differences associated with ethnicity
The mean Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) score for the sample was 43.5 [48]
In it we aimed to explore the nature of maternal mental health problems in the two main ethnic groups in the city, and the association with infant growth up to six months
Summary
We are interested in the prevalence and characteristics of mental health problems in pregnancy and especially in any differences associated with ethnicity. One reason for this interest is the reported relationship between maternal mood disorder and pregnancy outcomes. About 10–15% of women in western societies experience depression or anxiety around childbirth [1,2] with up to 40% scoring above cut-off on common self-report measures of distress.[3] Recent findings suggest prevalences for diagnosable depression may be as high as 25% for some groups such as South Asian mothers [4,5]. There is evidence to suggest an association between emotional and somatic symptoms in pregnancy [7,8] and for increased somatic presentations of distress in South Asian women [9]
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