Effect of maternal postpartum depression on offspring's growth

Previous studies have linked maternal depression to different child offspring's growth outcomes. However, its effect has not been well established. The aim of this review was to evaluate the available evidence on the effect of maternal postpartum depression on offspring weight and height growth outcomes.

A systematic review of longitudinal studies that evaluated the effect of maternal depression on child's growth outcomes was conducted in PubMed, LILACs, Web of Science, Science Direct and PsyInfo databases, using maternal postpartum depression related keywords, according to each database searching tool.

A total of 9608 articles were screened and 20 met the final inclusion criteria. The child's first-year growth was the most affected by the exposure to maternal depression. Children of depressed mothers had a higher chance of being underweight and stunted in the first year of life. Maternal depression was also associated with child's linear growth impairment after the first year.

As a literature review, a publication bias could not be ruled out. The diversity of the published data made it unfeasible for a pooled effect to be estimated.

Considering the results observed on child's first year of life growth, physicians should engage in assessing maternal depression, as it is a treatable and manageable disease, thus avoiding unnecessary harm on child's physical development.