Depressed mood in pregnancy: Prevalence and correlates in two Cape Town peri-urban settlements

This study reports on baseline data collected from the Philani Mentor Mothers Project (PMMP), a community-based, cluster-randomized controlled trial on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa. The PMMP aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a home-based intervention for preventing and managing illnesses related to HIV, TB, alcohol use and malnutrition in pregnant mothers and their infants. Participants were 1062 pregnant women from Khayelitsha and Mfuleni, Cape Town. Measures included the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), the Derived AUDIT-C, indices for social support with regards to partner and parents, and questions concerning socio-demographics, intimate partner violence, and the current pregnancy. Data were analysed using bivariate analyses followed by logistic regression.Depressed mood in pregnancy was reported by 39% of mothers. The strongest predictors of depressed mood were lack of partner support, intimate partner violence, having a household income below R2000 per month, and younger age.The high prevalence of depressed mood in pregnancy necessitates early screening and intervention in primary health care and antenatal settings for depression. The effectiveness and scalability of community-based interventions for maternal depression must be developed for pregnant women in peri-urban settlements.ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00972699.Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide [1]. Despite its high prevalence and known correlation with poverty [2], data for low and middle income (LAMI) countries is limited. Mental health is neglected in the national policies of many LAMI countries [3], and is of critical public health significance because of its intergenerational impact on infants and children as a result of its impact on disease burden and child health. Regardless of income, postnatal depression negatively affects child development and the mother-infant relationship [4,5]. In LAMI countries, it is also associated with poor child growth [6,7];