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Maternal psychological morbidity and low birth weight in India

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

MARTIN PRINCE, MRCPsych, MD

Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK

Correspondence: Dr Vikram Patel, NPHIRU, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK. Fax: +44 (0)207 958 8111; e-mail: Vikram.patel{at}lshtm.ac.uk

Declaration of interest None. Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.

Depression following childbirth is associated with poor child growth in developing countries. We describe the association between psychological morbidity during pregnancy and low birth weight (<2.5 kg). A cohort of 270 mothers was recruited from a district hospitalin Goa, India; all mothers were interviewed with a screening questionnaire for psychological morbidity. Babies of 250 mothers were reviewed at birth to measure their weight. Excluding 5 premature babies, we found that maternal psychological morbidity was independently associated with low birth weight (odds ratio 1.44, 95% CI 1.0–2.07). We conclude that maternal psychological morbidity has an adverse impact on foetal growth.

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