title: Mothering problems and child morbidity amongst "mothers with emotional disturbances".
abstract: In a study of 1,955 primigravidae who gave birth to a live singleton baby, 227 (11.6%) scored 'positive' (7+) in an antenatal Health Questionnaire enquiring into pre-pregnancy emotional disturbances. This group of mothers had more frequent depression, and this was of longer duration after their delivery compared with those scoring less than 7 (less than or equal to 6). Those scoring 7+ were less likely to breast-feed and the infants were more often ill during the first year of life. There were also differences in 'minor obstetric complications' between the two survey groups. This suggests that the application of this Health Questionnaire antenatally can identify emotionally vulnerable women, who could benefit from support and education during the antenatal period.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, Scotland.
authors.forename: U L
authors.initials: UL
authors.lastname: Nordström
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Dallas
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Morton
authors.forename: N B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Patel
mesh_terms: D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology*; D001903:Bottle Feeding; D001942:Breast Feeding; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009017:Morbidity; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D011644:Puerperal Disorders