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Maternal Depression and Breastfeeding Practices in the Maldives

Objectives: To assess associations between maternal depression and breastfeeding practices in mothers in the Maldives. Design: A prospective cohort study. The validated questionnaires contained information on demographics, breastfeeding initiation, breastfeeding duration, and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess association between Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale score and breastfeeding practices while adjusting for lifestyle determinants. Cox regression was done to measure the association between maternal depression and breastfeeding duration. Settings: Antenatal clinic at Indira Gandhi Memorial and ADK Hospitals in Male’, Maldives. Subjects: A total of 458 mothers from the antennal clinics were interviewed at 36 weeks of gestation and again at 1, 3, and 6 months after birth. Results: Antenatal depression at 36 weeks of gestation was associated with late initiation of breastfeeding (adjusted odds ratio = 3.0, 95% confidence interval = 1.3-6.8). Postnatal depression was associated with shorter duration of exclusive, full, and any breastfeeding (P < .001). Conclusion. Depression is negatively associated with breastfeeding practices. There is a need to manage antenatal postnatal depression in mothers in order to encourage them to initiate breastfeeding earlier and to breastfeed for longer.