Pregnant mothers suffering from high clinical depression or anxiety were more likely to produce smaller babies, which were prone to infant death, a new study finds. Researchers assessed the mental health of 720 pregnant women from two rural communities in Bangladesh for symptoms of pre-delivery depression and anxiety and followed them for six to eight months after delivery. The findings, published in the journal BMC Public Health, showed that 18 percent of the women were diagnosed as having depression and one-quarter as having anxiety during pregnancy and these women were much more likely to give birth to very small babies. (Medical News Today, 8/29/10)
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