Aims: To report preliminary findings from a community based study designed to determine any association between maternal postnatal depression (PND) and Failure to Thrive (FTT) in their infants.

Methods: All infants are routinely weighed as part of their general health surveillance. Children under 2 years of age, born at full term, were recruited into the FTT (index) group if their weight fell across 2 centile lines or beneath the 2nd centile on standardised growth charts. Control infants were recruited at a rate of 3:1 and were matched to the index infant for sex, age, ordinal position and postal sector. All mothers of recruited children completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Mothers who scored ³9 were offered a structured Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS). ICD-10 diagnoses of depressive disorder were derived from the CIS.

Results: One hundred and seventy nine infants have been recruited to the index group, together with 454 control infants. Using the EPDS as an accepted first stage screen for PND confirmed that the prevalence of PND in the control group was representative of the general community of North Staffordshire. Two thirds of mothers in both index and control groups who were interviewed with the CIS fulfilled the ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for depressive disorder. Preliminary analysis of all mothers recruited indicates that 16% of the index group had an ICD-10 diagnosis of depressive disorder, compared to 10% of the control group (p=0.03). Conclusion: This research indicates that there is a significantly higher prevalence of depressive disorder in mothers of infants who are failing to thrive, than in the general community. These findings could have significant ramifications for service provision to mothers of infants presenting with poor weight gain.