Maternal and Infant Feeding Status Related to Infant Temperament, Postpartum Depression, and Weight

This longitudinal research study addresses the correlations between infant feeding status in relation to infant temperament, maternal postpartum depression, and weight changes over time in a lower income, diverse population sample. The majority of participants were enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in Mesa, Arizona. Each participant was recruited in their third trimester and followed for the infants' first six months of life. A series of four home visits were made in which demographic surveys, temperament questionnaires, postpartum depression scales, weight changes over time, fecal, vaginal, saliva, and breast milk samples were taken. Due to the extensive process of extracting and sequencing of the microbiome samples, data has yet to be collected from the fecal, vaginal, saliva, and breast milk samples and were not included in this study. Correlational and descriptive statistics were run on the qualitative data including various demographic questions, total temperament, depression, and healthy eating index scores. It was found that lower socioeconomic factors contributed to more difficult infant temperaments, mothers who breastfed had higher post-delivery postpartum depression scores, and mothers with healthier eating indexes formula or mixed fed their infants. The findings from this data will be compared to the incoming microbiome data to examine the role of the microbiome of mothers and infants and its effects on infant temperament, postpartum depression, and weight changes over time.