Association between exclusive breastfeeding and women’s depressive symptoms: secondary analysis of a national survey

Lima-Bastos L.; Narro-Sánchez C.; Rojas-Humpire R. · Nutricion Clinica y Dietetica Hospitalaria (2025) · DOI: 10.12873/452lima

Resumen

Introduction: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), is a practice that brings benefits to the mother-child binomial, in this sense neuroendocrine changes have been reported that could be beneficial to the mother in relation to her mental health especially in postpartum depression. Objective: To determine the association between EBF and women’s depressive symptoms in a Peruvian population. Methods: An analysis of secondary data from the Peruvian Demographic and Family Health Survey was carried out to determine the presence, duration and frequency of EBF. On the other hand, the PHQ-9 test was used to evaluate women’s depressive symptoms. In all the calculations, the population weights of the survey design were considered and finally, in the inferential tests for both comparative statistics and odd ratios (OR), a p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: There was a prevalence of EBF of 28% in the study population, a large proportion of which presented EBF practices from 12 months to 1 year with a frequency of 5 to 9 times a day. The inferential analysis showed that EBF decreased the probability of depressive symptoms by 43% (OR: 0.57; 95%CI: 0.54-0.84) compared to mothers who did not breastfeed. On the other hand, marital status of separated (OR:1.67; 95%CI:1.06-2.61), widowhood (OR:5.09; 95%CI:1.86-13.94), domestic violence (OR:2.39; 95%CI:1.48-3.87) and arterial hypertension (OR:2.16; 95%CI:1.22-3.83) significantly increased the probability of depressive symptoms in the study population. Conclusions: It is concluded that exclusive breastfeeding is a factor that reduces the probability of depressive symptoms in women independently, this practice is important for the development of the newborn and the well-being of the mother, which should be reinforced especially in the first level of care.

Instituciones: Universidad Peruana Unión