title: Maternal depression and infant growth and development in British Pakistani women: a cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Perinatal depression has been found to be a strong and independent risk factor for poor child growth and development in low-income South Asian populations. The authors aimed to study if there was a similar association in first and second-generation British women of Pakistani origin.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted in the North-West of England, in areas with high density of Pakistani-origin population. The subjects were recruited from Central Manchester Hospital in the City of Manchester and East Lancashire Hospital in Lancashire.
  
  
  METHODS
  704 physically healthy women were assessed in two phases (screening and detailed assessment of high scorers and a proportion of low scorers) during the third trimester of pregnancy to obtain at birth a cohort of 63 infants of depressed mothers and 173 infants of psychologically well mothers.
  
  
  METHODS
  All infants were weighed and measured at birth and 6 months, and their development was assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-Third Edition.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no difference in the birth weight or weight and height at 6 months of infants of depressed mothers versus infants of psychologically well mothers. The only significant difference between the two groups was in the infants' adaptive behaviour; infants of depressed mothers scored significantly lower than those of psychologically well mothers (mean difference 4.6, t=2.81, df 195, p=0.006). The associations remained significant after adjustment for socio-demographic factors by multivariate analyses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prenatal depression is not associated with impaired growth in this sample of British Pakistani women. There is, however, an association of prenatal depression with parent-reported problems in the infants' adaptive behaviour. Further research is needed to understand various pathways through which maternal depression affects infant outcomes in low- and high-income settings.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Research Group, School of Community Based Medicine, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Nusrat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Husain
authors.forename: John Kennedy
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Cruickshank
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tomenson
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Atif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rahman