| In low-income countries perinatal depression is highly prevalent but longitudinal data on its influence on child health are rare. We examined the association between maternal depression and children’s febrile illness. 654 mother/child dyads in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire were enrolled in 2010-2011 in a prospective birth cohort for 2-years of follow up. Mothers were examined for depression using the Patient Health Questionnaire depression module antepartum, 3 and 12 months postpartum. The hazard of febrile illness in children of depressed and non-depressed mothers was estimated using a recurrent event Cox proportional hazards model adjusting for country and socio-economic status. The prevalence of antepartum depression in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana was 28.3% and 26.3% respectively. The prevalences of depression at 3 and 12 months postpartum were 11.8% and 16.1% (Côte d’Ivoire) and 8.9% and 7.2% (Ghana). The crude and adjusted hazard ratios of febrile illness in children of depressed mothers compared to those of non-depressed mothers were 1.57 (95% confidence interval: 1.20, 2.07) and 1.32 (95% confidence interval: 1.01, 2.07) respectively. We constructed a cumulative depression exposure by categorizing mothers as never or once depressed and two or three times depressed. The crude and adjusted hazard ratio in children of recurrently depressed mothers compared to mothers with fewer episodes was 2.20 (95% confidence interval: 1.51, 3.19) and 1.90 (95% confidence interval: 1.32, 2.75) respectively. Perinatal depression was frequent in both countries and associated with febrile illness in the offspring. Evidence accumulates that the high depression prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa may pose a serious public health threat to women and their offspring. |