Tatiana Gladskikh
Some of the harmful effects on early child development attributed to postpartum depression may be caused in part by depression during pregnancy, a British study suggests.
Maternal depression during pregnancy "has a negative impact on children's cognitive development, even when postnatal depression has been taken into account," said Toity Deave from the Centre for Child and Adolescent Health, University of the West of England, Bristol.
"It is widely acknowledged that postnatal depression has a negative impact on child development but this is the first study that has demonstrated that the children of women who experience low mood during pregnancy are also at risk," Dr. Deave said.
The findings come from a long-term study of about 11,000 women and their children. A total of 1,565 women, or 14 per cent, suffered from depression while pregnant but not after two months following delivery, Dr. Deave and colleagues report in the medical journal BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Standard developmental screening tests in the children showed that9 per cent were developmentally delayed at age 18 months. A developmental delay is any significant lag in a child's physical, cognitive, behavioural, emotional or social development, compared with established normal ranges for his or her age.
Dr. Deave and colleagues found that persistent depression in the mother during pregnancy increased the odds of developmental delay in the child 50 per cent.
After factoring in the effects of depression early after delivery, the researchers say they found evidence of an "independent and statistically significant" 34-per-cent increase in the odds of developmental delay in children of mothers who were depressed while pregnant.
This study, they say, adds to "increasing evidence that the mother's mood during pregnancy is important" and that persistent depression during pregnancy has the potential to raise the risk for developmental delay in childhood.