| The present study examinedmaternal prenatal and postnatal depression, maternal health complications, breastfeeding frequency, postnatal maternal perception of social support, and maternalperception of mother-infant attachment.Two models were examined.Model 1focused on prenatal depression,andModel 2focused on prenatal to postnatal change in depressive symptomology.ForModel 1, wehypothesizeddecreased prenatal maternal depressionwould be associated with increasedattachment and decreasedhealthcomplications,increasedhealth complicationswould mediate the relationship between greater prenatal depressionand lower frequency of breastfeeding, and increased postnatalsocial supportwould moderate the relationship betweenfewerhealth complicationsand increased breastfeeding frequency.In Model 2, we predictedincreased prenatal to postnatal change in depression would be associated withdecreased attachment, maternal health would moderate the relationship between depression and breastfeeding, the interaction of breastfeeding and social support would mediate the relationship between the interaction of depression and health and attachment, and social support would moderate relations between breastfeeding and attachment.Participants included96mothersmeasured longitudinally at35±2 week’sgestation and 6 months±2 weeks postpartum. There was a significant direct effect of prenataldepressionon maternal-infant attachmentin Model 1, suchthat greater prenatal depressionwas associated witha decreased attachment.In Model 2, social supportmoderated the relationship between breastfeeding and attachment, with mothers who indicated lower quality social supportendorsingimproved attachment scores when
xivbreastfeeding frequency was increased.Prenatal maternaldepression,postnatal maternal social support, and breastfeeding educationmay betargetsof intervention for healthcare professionals.Key Words:perinatal, attachment, depression, infant crying, social support, health, breastfeeding |