Positive Effect of Breastfeeding on Child Development, Anxiety, and Postpartum Depression

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 17; no. 8; p. 2725
• Main Authors: Mikšić, Štefica, Uglešić, Boran, Jakab, Jelena, Holik, Dubravka, Milostić Srb, Andrea, Degmečić, Dunja
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 15.04.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Anxiety; Birth; Breast Feeding; Breastfeeding & lactation; Child; Child Development; Childbirth & labor; Children; Children & youth; Depression, Postpartum; Diabetes; Emotional disorders; Female; Humans; Independent sample; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental health; Mood; Mood disorders; Mothers; Mothers - psychology; Postpartum; Postpartum depression; Postpartum Period; Pregnancy; Prenatal depression; Questionnaires; Sleep; Womens health; Croatia; child development; anxiety; breastfeeding; postpartum depression
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17082725

Postpartum depression is a psychiatric disorder that starts from the second to the sixth week after birth. Breastfeeding is considered a protective factor for postpartum mood swings. This paper aims to examine the effect of breastfeeding on postpartum depression and anxiety, and how it affects child development. The study included 209 pregnant women, 197 puerperea, and 160 women at the end of the third month after delivery, followed through three time-points. The instruments used in the study were the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS), Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI), and Beck's Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Postpartum mothers with low risk of PPD breastfed their children more often than mothers with a mild or severe risk of perinatal depression. Mean values on the BDI scale three months after giving birth were higher in mothers who did not breastfeed their child (M = 3.53) than those who did breastfeed their child (M = 2.28). Postpartum anxiety measured by BAI was statistically negatively correlated (rs-, 430) with the duration of breastfeeding. Nonbreastfeeding mothers are more depressed and anxious compared to breastfeeding mothers.