Risk for postpartum depression, breastfeeding practices, and mammary gland permeability.

In a cross-sectional study, 163 breastfeeding women completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), a questionnaire on demographics and infant feeding and hand-expressed breast milk for Na and K quantification, between 2 and 12 weeks postpartum. Forty women (24.5%) had an EPDS score compatible with the risk of a depressive episode, and 63 (41%) did not feel confident about breastfeeding.