Table of Contents
- Overview
- Symptoms
- Treatment
- Prevention
- Images
Maternal deprivation syndrome is a form of
Alternative Names
Nonorganic failure to thrive
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
The majority of cases of failure to thrive in infants and young children (under 2 years old) are not caused by disease. Most cases are caused by dysfunctional caregiver interaction, poverty, child abuse, and parental ignorance about appropriate child care. Such cases are considered "nonorganic" failure to thrive. Failure to thrive in children younger than 2 years old is defined as failure to gain adequate weight, failure of linear growth, and failure to achieve some or all developmental milestones.
In maternal deprivation syndrome, although the mother or other primary caregiver may appear concerned, the interplay and physical contact normally seen between mother and infant may be absent or distorted.
Factors that may contribute to maternal deprivation syndrome include:
- Young age of parent (teenage parents)
- Unplanned or unwanted pregnancy
- Lower levels of education (especially failure to complete high school)
- Lower socioeconomic status
- Absence of the father
- Absence of a support network (family, close friends, or other support)
- Mental illness, including severe postpartum depression
Images
Review Date: 11/02/2009
Reviewed By: Deirdre OâReilly, MD, MPH, Neonatologist, Division
of Newborn Medicine, Childrenâs Hospital Boston
and Instructor in Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston,
Massachusetts. Review Provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
