Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T14:26:29.876Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Post-partum depression and the mother-infant relationship in a South African peri-urban settlement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2018

Peter J. Cooper ,
Mark Tomlinson ,
Leslie Swartz ,
Matthew Woolgar ,
Lynne Murray  and
Christopher Molteno
Peter J. Cooper*
Affiliation:
Winnicott Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Reading, Reading
Mark Tomlinson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape Town, Cape Town
Leslie Swartz
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town
Matthew Woolgar
Affiliation:
Winnicott Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Reading, Reading
Lynne Murray
Affiliation:
Winnicott Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Reading, Reading
Christopher Molteno
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape Town, Cape Town
*
Professor Peter Cooper, Winnicott Research Unit, Department of Psychology, The University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AL
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Post-partum depression in the developing world has received tittle research attention, and its association with disturbances in the mother–infant relationship is unknown.

Aims

To determine the prevalence of post-partum depression and associated disturbances in the mother–infant relationship in Khayelitsha, a South African peri-urban settlement.

Method

The mental state of 147 women who had delivered two months previously was assessed, and the quality of their engagement with their infants was determined.

Results

The point prevalence of DSM–IV major depression was found to be 34.7%. Maternal depression was associated with poor emotional and practical support from the partner. It was also associated with insensitive engagement with the infants.

Conclusions

The rate of post-partum depression in Khayelitsha was around three times that found in British post-partum samples, and these depressions were strongly associated with disturbances in the mother–infant relationship.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 175 , Issue 6 , December 1999 , pp. 554 - 558
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Declaration of interest

This study was conducted with the support of the Wellcome Trust.

References

American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edn) (DSM–IV). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Abbas, M. & Broadhead, J. (1997) Depression and anxiety among women in an urban setting in Zimbabwe. Psychological Medicine, 27, 59–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bahar, E., Henderson, A. S. & Mackinnon, A. J. (1992) An epidemiological study of mental hearth and socio-economic conditions in Sumatra, Indonesia. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 85, 257–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blue, I. & Harpham, T. (1998) Investing in mental health research and development. British Journal of Psychiatry, 172, 294–295.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cooper, P. J., Campbell, E. A., Day, A., et al (1988) Non-psychotic psychiatric disorder after childbirth. A prospective study of prevalence, incidence, course and nature. British Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 799–806.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cooper, P. J., & Murray, L. (1998) Postnatal depression. British Medical Journal, 316, 1884–1886.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cox, J. L. (1983) Postnatal depression: a comparison of African and Scottish women. Social Psychiatry, 18, 25 28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cox, J. L., Murray, D. & Chapman, G. (1993) A controlled study of the onset, duration and prevalence of postnatal depression. British Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 27–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
First, M. B., Spitzer, R. L. Gibbon, M., et al (1996) Structured Clinical Interview for DSM–IV Axis I. New York: New York State Psychiatric Institute.Google Scholar
Harpham, T. (1994) Urbanisation and mental health in developing countries. Social Science and Medicine, 39, 133–145.Google Scholar
Klainman, A. (1977) Depression, somatization and the new cross-cultural psychiatry. Social Science and Medicine, 11, 3–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mash, R. (1998) Khayelitsha District Annual Report for 1996. Cape Town: Health Information Pilot Project.Google Scholar
Mumford, D. B., Saeed, K., Ahmad, I., et al (1997) Stress and psychiatric disorder in rural Punjab. A community survey. British Journal of Psychiatry, 170, 473–478.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murray, L., Kampton, C., Woolgar, M., et al (1993) Depressed mother's speech to their infants and its relation to infant gender and cognitive development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 34, 1083–1101.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murray, L., Fiori-Cowley, A., Hooper, R., et al (1996) The impact of postnatal depression and associated adversity on early mother–infant interactions and later infant outcome. Child Development, 67, 2512–2526.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murray, L., & Cooper, P. J. (1997) Postpartum depression and child development. Psychological Medicine, 27, 253–260.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rahim, S. I. A. & Cederblad, M. (1989) Epidemiology of mental disorders in young adults of a newly urbanised area in Khartoum, Sudan. British Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 44–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richter, L. M. (1995) Are early adult–infant interactions universal? A South African view. South African Journal of child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 7, 2–18.Google Scholar
Sepulveda, M A., Lapez, G., Azar, M. C., et al (1999) Diseqo de un modelo de intervention temprana en sectores marginales. Anales de la Universidad Metropolitana, 8, 231–248.Google Scholar
Stein, A., Cooper, P. J., Campbell, E. A., et al (1989) Social adversity and peri-natal complications: their relation to postnatal depression. British Medical Journal, 298, 1073–1074.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swartz, L. (1998) Culture and Mental Health: A Southern African View. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.