ABSTRACT

Postpartum depression is a common and important health problem of the mothers. The conse-quences of postpartum depression have important implications for the health and care of both the mothers and their child. Unrecognized and untreated postpartum depression may not only negatively affect the health of the mother, but also influence the health, care, and development of her children. The symptoms of depressive mothers may lead negative mother-infant interac-tions, and thus, they may define more problems in relation to their infants. Further, depressive mothers’ unfavorable parenting behaviors and concerns regarding care-giving may lead the poor child outcomes. Therefore, the infants of depressive mothers may have various problems regard-ing their development, feeding, sleeping, temperament, behavior, and growth outcomes. Early management of maternal postpartum depression is crucial for preventing adverse effects on both mother and infant health and care. For this purpose, well-child visits during the first year of life may be an appropriate setting for maternal postpartum-depression evaluations, screening tests, early diagnosis and treatment.