Patients with ��postpartum depression�� usually had at least one other (comorbid) full report disorder, and 27% had two or more. After delivery the commonest themes were the pathological fear of cot death and fear of the criticism of mothering skills which was a clue to a disordered mother-infant relationship [32]. Certain mothers are at particularly high risk for anxiety in the immediate postpartum period: those who have experienced preterm birth or other perinatal complications, as well as those lacking a satisfactory marital relationship or other forms of social support [33]. In this study exclusive breastfeeding was also significantly lower in NICU group compared to the control group. Maternal depression has been recognized in other studies as influencing maternal feeding attitudes [34, 35] and also the duration of breastfeeding [36].

Adequacy of milk supply and perinatal medical condition of the infant was a key factor for successful breastfeeding of preterm infants. Akerstrom and Norman have reported that 6 months after discharge from hospital 89% of term infants and 47% of preterm infants were breastfeeding exclusively or in part [37]. According to our results high maternal EPDS score may affect breastfeeding in the NICU but lower breastfeeding rate may be also due to other factors like medical problems of the baby. In our unit we recommend breastfeeding to all mothers including those who bear a preterm infant. When the baby’s clinical status is not suitable for breastfeeding, we use pumped breast milk and give it to the baby by orogastric tube.

Sometimes mothers do not pump their milk regularly leading to decreased milk supply. In conclusion, in this study NICU admission of baby was found to be associated with the higher EPDS score of the mother and these mothers with the higher EPDS scores had higher anxiety scores and insecure attachment styles. NICU professionals should be more careful about depressive symptoms of NICU mothers and should provide counseling when it is necessary. Further studies on bigger samples are required to test the impact of stress of the NICU on the mothers.
The UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic estimated that approximately 420 000 (350 000�C540 000) new HIV infections occurred in children below 15 years of age in the year 2007, 90% of them through mother to child transmission [1].

Malnutrition has been shown to be an important comorbid condition, as the same populations that are vulnerable to Dacomitinib HIV also have a high prevalence of food insecurity [2]. There is limited data on the prevalence and type of malnutrition (underweight, stunting, and wasting) among HIV-infected children in India [3], though it is known that protein energy malnutrition is one of the commonest manifestations of HIV in this region [4, 5]. While malnutrition itself is multifactorial in causation, the most effective treatment for this failure to grow in HIV-infected children appears to be antiretroviral therapy [6].