the effect of postnatal depression on exclusive breastfeeding: a systematic review and meta-analysis

the effect of postnatal depression on exclusive breastfeeding: a systematic review and meta-analysis

background: postpartum depression is a serious mood disorder that affects the physical and mental health of mothers and infants. some studies have reported the relationship between postpartum depression and breastfeeding. this study aimed to assess the effect of postnatal depression on exclusive breastfeeding. design: a systematic review and meta-analysis methods: a systematic literature search in english was conducted using pubmed, google scholar, scopus, web of science, and cochrane library databases from their start dates until february 2021.

outcome estimates were pooled by odds ratios (ors). forest plots were used to express the results of each study and the heterogeneity among studies, and a potential source of heterogeneity was investigated using subgroup analysis. statistical analyses were implemented using stata version 17.0. result: women with postpartum depression significantly had 2.17 times (95% ci, 1.50-3.16; p < .001) higher odds of nonexclusive breastfeeding than those without postpartum depression.

also, the random effect meta-analysis showed that non-exclusive breastfeeding was 75 percent (or 1.75, 95% ci 1.46-2.09) greater in depressed mothers than in their non-depressed counterparts in studies using cut point ≥12 as a standard symptom of depression for the epds scale. there was no heterogeneity in estimating this pooled effect size. conclusion: women with postpartum depressive symptoms are vulnerable to discontinuation of exclusive breastfeeding.