Effect of Pregnancy Intention, Maternal Postnatal Depressive Symptoms and Social Support on Early Childhood Stunting: Findings from India

Background: According to United Nation Children’s Fund, it has been estimated that worldwide about 165 million children were stunted in 2012 and India alone accounts for 38% of global burden of stunting. Our study aims to... [ view full abstract ]

Background: According to United Nation Children’s Fund, it has been estimated that worldwide about 165 million children were stunted in 2012 and India alone accounts for 38% of global burden of stunting. Our study aims to examine the effect of pregnancy intention and maternal postnatal depressive symptoms on early childhood stunting in India. We hypothesized that social support mediated effect of pregnancy intention and maternal postnatal depressive symptoms.
Methods: We used data from the first wave of Young Lives Study India. Out of 2011 children recruited in the original cohort, 1833 children had complete information on pregnancy intention, maternal depression and other variables. A series of multivariate logistic regression models were used to examine the effect of pregnancy intention and postnatal depressive symptoms on early childhood stunting.
Results: Bivariate result indicates that a higher percent of children born after unintended pregnancy (40%) were stunted than children of intended pregnancy (26%). Likewise, the proportion of stunting was also higher among children of those mothers who had a high level of postnatal depression (35%) than low level of depression (24%). Results of multivariate logistic regression model indicate that children born after unintended pregnancy were significantly more likely to be stunted than children born after intended pregnancy (Coefficient: 1.76, CI: 1.25, 2.48). Likewise, early childhood stunting was also associated with maternal postnatal depressive symptoms among women (Coefficient:1.53, CI:1.21, 1.92). The effect of pregnancy intention and postnatal depressive symptoms on early childhood stunting remains unchanged after controlling for social support and other variables.
Conclusions: The findings of this study provide conclusive evidence regarding consequences of pregnancy intention and postnatal depressive symptoms on early childhood stunting in India. Therefore, there is a need to identify the women with unintended pregnancy and incorporate the promotion of mental health into their national reproductive and child health programme.