State of knowledge of postpartum depression and effects on infant psychomotor development.

Abstract

Introduction: Postpartum depression is a public health issue. Its inadequate clinical management compromises maternal health, with negative consequences for the infant's psychomotor development.

Objective: o analyze the available scientific evidence on the relationship between postpartum depression and infant psychomotor development.

Method: Review-integrative study, conducted between January 2020 and May 2025, using health science descriptors to answer a research question designed using the PICO methodology. Indexed journals were accessed in: SciELO/Dialnet/SCOPUS/WOS/PubMed and information from websites: WHO/PAHO/UNICEF and the Chilean Ministry of Health. The search equations were performed using descriptors: DeCS/MeSH: postpartum depression, child development, mother-child relationships, childhood developmental disabilities, combined with Boolean AND-OR-NOT operators: Inclusion criteria: full-text publications in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. The study followed Crossetti criteria. Studies were synthesized using the PRISMA methodology to obtain a grid of articles. The CASPE guideline was used in the analysis of articles.

Results: A total of 1,095 studies were identified, 993 quantitative and 102 qualitative, of which 272 were excluded; 562 articles were included in the analysis. According to the literature, children of mothers with postpartum depression exhibit motor, language, and social interaction delays, with these effects intensifying when depression persists beyond the first few months after birth. A need for longitudinal studies with more diverse populations was identified to further investigate this relationship.

Conclusions: The reviewed articles show that maternal depression can have negative effects on the infant's psychomotor development, manifested by deficits in language and social areas, known as psychomotor developmental delays.