Small for gestational age babies and depressive symptoms of mothers during pregnancy: Results from a birth cohort in India

Abstract

Background: Annually, more than a million Low birthweight (LBW) are born in India, often afflicting disadvantaged families. Several studies have undertaken association of poverty, nutritional status, and obstetric factors with LBW. Through our study, we aimed to examine the possibility of any relation between Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) score measured during pregnancy with incidence of babies born Small for Gestational Age (SGA). Moreover, we explored if there is any utility for identifying a cut-off point of EPDS for predicting SGA. Methods: Pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic at a public hospital between 14 to 32 weeks were recruited from April 2016 to Oct 2017. The EPDS was administered to assess depression through face-to-face interviews. Newborn anthropometry was performed post-delivery. For analysis, birth weight <10 percentile was classified as SGA and >90th percentile as Large for Gestational Age (LGA). Results: Prevalence of depressive symptoms (EPDS score >11) was 16.5% (n=108/654) in antenatal mothers. These women delivered a higher proportion of SGA babies (21.3 v/s 15.8) and LGA (9.3 v/s 3.3) compared to women with no symptoms. The odds of women giving birth to a child with SGA were twice as high for women with EPDS scores >11 (adjusted OR = 2.03; 95% CI = 1.12 – 3.70) compared to the women with EPDS scores of ≤11. In terms of Area under curve (AUC), EPDS 11 cut off (AUC: 0.757, CI 0.707- 0.806) was same as EPDS 12 cut-off (AUC: 0.757, CI 0.708- 0.807), which was slightly lower than EPDS 13 cut off (AUC: 0.759 CI 0.709- 0.809). Conclusions: We found a strong association of antenatal depressive symptoms during pregnancy with SGA measured by EPDS. Thus, we recommend implementation of timely and effective screening, diagnostic services, and evidence-based antenatal mental health services in order to combat SGA, and further associated-metabolic syndromes.