Smoking And Depression Often Occur Together In New Mothers

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Depression;  Smoking / Quit Smoking
Article Date: 27 Nov 2007 - 3:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Smoking and depression often go hand-in-hand for new mothers, according to a new study by Dr Robert Whitaker, a pediatrician and profressor of public health at Temple University.

He said, "While smoking and depression adversely affects a mother's health, the combination may also affect the health of her child."

For children, the potential consequences of maternal smoking include sudden infant death, asthma, ear infections and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, while the potential consequences of maternal depression include behaviour problems, language delay and childhood depression.

Dr Whitaker said that depression and addiction to tobacco should not be treated in isolation from each other as giving a mother who smokes a quit smoking helpline number is not going to be enough.

Data for the analysis came from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. In 20 U.S. cities, 4,898 mothers were surveyed at the time of delivery, from 1998 to 2000. In a follow up survey 15 months later, 4,353 (89 percent) of mothers reported their smoking behaviour and symptoms of a major depressive episode during the prior 12 months.

The follow up survey showed that the 12 month prevalence of a major depressive episode was 46 percent higher among smokers and that the prevalence of smoking was 33 percent higher among those who had a major depressive episode in the prior 12 months.

"Most recently, healthcare policy has focused on children's access to healthcare, but we also have to keep the mother's health in the discussion," Dr Whitaker said.

http://www.ash.org.uk