PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Gagliardi, Luigi
AU  - Petrozzi, Angela
AU  - Rusconi, Franca
TI  - Symptoms of maternal depression immediately after delivery predict unsuccessful breast feeding
AID  - 10.1136/adc.2009.179697
DP  - 2012 Apr 01
TA  - Archives of Disease in Childhood
PG  - 355--357
VI  - 97
IP  - 4
4099  - http://adc.bmj.com/content/97/4/355.short
4100  - http://adc.bmj.com/content/97/4/355.full
SO  - Arch Dis Child2012 Apr 01; 97
AB  - Objective Postnatal depression may interfere with breast feeding. This study tested the ability of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) to predict later breast feeding problems, hypothesising that risk of unsuccessful breast feeding increased with increasing EPDS scores, even at low values. Design The authors administered the EPDS on days 2–3 after delivery to 592 mothers of a healthy baby. Feeding method was recorded at 12–14 weeks. Results Median EPDS score was 5 (IQR 2 -8); 15.7% of women scored >9. At 12–14 weeks, 50.7% of infants received full breast feeding, 21.0% mixed breast feeding and 28.4% bottle feeding. Mothers with higher EPDS scores were more likely to bottle feed at 3 months; the odds of bottle feeding increased with EPDS result, even at low scores (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.11). Conclusions Higher EPDS scores immediately after delivery were associated with later breast feeding failure.