A recent icddr,b study finds mothers who are mentally healthy can ensure significant positive improvements in their children’s intellectual development.
At a dissemination recently held in Dhaka, icddr,b scientists shared their preliminary findings which showed that a reduction of stress and depressive symptoms in mothers can potentially help in providing a cognitively stimulating and nurturing home environment for their children.
The scientists introduced a very simple, low cost, community-based intervention aimed at changing behaviour of mothers with depressive symptoms. The targeted mothers had young children who were in the first 1000 days of their lives when a child’s brain growth is rapid.
The intervention consisted of two components—a ‘thinking healthy’ programme for mothers and ‘psychosocial stimulation’ programme for their children. The children of mothers who participated in the study achieved significant improvement in developmental scores. The study also found that it is possible to combine this intervention with existing healthcare programmes at grassroots level.
An estimated 200 million children in the developing countries are not reaching their full intellectual potential. One of the leading causes for this is maternal depression and other mental health problems that are widespread among women of childbearing age in these countries.
In Bangladesh, approximately 25% of new mothers experience depression, which a simple intervention like the ones being trialed at community level could potentially cut the rate in half.
Dr Fahmida Tofail principal investigator on the study said, “Findings of this interventional study highlight the importance of taking into account mothers’ mental health while undertaking child development programmes. Mentally healthy mothers can ensure a good start to life, ensuring that their children do better in school and ultimately grow up to function better in society”.
Prof Habibe Millat, the Honourable Member of the Parliament and the chief guest at the seminar said, “Maternal mental health and child development is often not considered a major problem in Bangladesh, however this has serious consequences and should be dealt accordingly to have a future healthy nation”.   
Dr Mohammad Sharif from Directorate General of Family Planning and Dr Habib Abdullah Sohel, Directorate General of Health Services also attended the seminar among others.