…mothers with depressive symptoms were at greater risk for both low breastfeeding intensity and adding cereal to infant formula at 2 months of age than were those without PPD.
ArticlePostpartum Depression, Infant Feeding Practices, and Infant Weight Gain at Six Months of Age
Section snippets
Sample
The Infant Feeding Practices Study II (IFPS II; www.cdc.gov/ifps), which is the source of data for the current study, was conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. IFPS II data were collected longitudinally between May 2005 and June 2007, using a survey format with one prenatal and 10 postnatal mailings. Questionnaires were mailed to mothers approximately monthly, and mothers were asked to provide information on their infant feeding
Main Exposure
PPD was measured using the 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EDPS) that was incorporated into the IFPS II 2-month postpartum survey. Each item of the EDPS describes a depressive symptom. Mothers rated the extent to which the symptom matched their feelings during the past several days. Possible scores range from 0 to 30, with higher scores signifying greater severity. The original authors of the EDPS recommended a cut-off score of ≥ 10 to screen for minor depression in primary care
Statistical Analysis
Descriptive statistics were computed and reported for all variables. Chi-square analysis and t-tests were conducted to determine any significant associations among PPD, infant feeding practices, weight gain by 6 months, and our other selected maternal and infant characteristics. Logistic regression models estimated the effect of PPD and other maternal and infant characteristics on breastfeeding intensity, adding cereal to baby bottles, and age of introduction to solid foods. Multivariate linear
Results
Table 1 presents the overall descriptive statistics for maternal and infant characteristics of our sample and frequencies by PPD designation. In this sample, 349 (24.1%) of the mothers were categorized with depressive symptoms (EPDS score ≥ 10) at 2 months infant age. The sample consisted primarily of White women (90.8%) between the ages of 25 and 34 years of age (64.5%). A large proportion (44.6%) had completed college; 18.7% had a high school education or less. The household income
Discussion
Kathleen F. Gaffney, Professor, School of Nursing, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA.
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Cited by (0)
Kathleen F. Gaffney, Professor, School of Nursing, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA.
Panagiota Kitsantas, Associate Professor, Department of Health Administration and Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA.
Albert Brito, Medical Director, InovaCares Clinic for Children, Falls Church, VA, and Assistant Professor, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Carol S.S. Swamidoss, Doctoral Candidate, School of Nursing, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA.
Conflicts of interest: None to report.