London, Aug 26 (IANS) Sad and anxious mothers tend to have smaller babies who are more likely to die in infancy.
The study, which focused on women living in rural Bangladesh, provides the first finding of its kind in a non-Western population.
Karolinska Instituet, Sweden and Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) assessed mental health of 720 pregnant women from rural Bangladesh for symptoms of depression and anxiety, according to a statement of Karolinska Instituet.
Infant birth weight of 81 percent babies born normally was measured within 48 hours of delivery and baseline data provided socio-economic, anthropometric, reproductive, obstetric and social support information, reports the journal BMC Public Health.
Lead researcher Hashima-E-Nasreen explains: ‘Eighteen percent of the women we studied… were diagnosed as having depression and one-quarter as having anxiety during pregnancy and these women were much more likely to give birth to very small babies.’
‘This is a worrying problem, since low birth weight is strongly associated with infant death, which may in turn perpetuate the cycle of mental health problems and underdevelopment,’ she said.
The study raises awareness of the significance of depression and anxiety leading to poor health in South Asian countries.
