Difficulty Breastfeeding Linked To Post-Partum Depression
Problems breastfeeding can leave new moms feeling dejected and overwhelmed in their first days of motherhood. Sometimes, these blue feelings become full blown post-partum depression.
A new study finds that women who have trouble with breastfeeding are more likely to suffer from post-partum depression. While they’ve found a definite link between the two issues, they don’t know which way the causal relationship flows.
Are women becoming depressed because they’re struggling with breastfeeding, or are they having trouble nursing because they’re depressed?
More research is needed to answer that question, but just knowing there’s a link gives healthcare providers valuable information to work with.
As the researchers told TIME, the link gives healthcare providers two ways to reach out to new moms and support their breastfeeding efforts:
The study was not able to determine whether depressed moms were more likely to have trouble breast-feeding or whether difficulty breast-feeding sparked depression, but the paper’s authors, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), recommend a two-pronged holistic approach: screen women with breast-feeding difficulties for depression and assess how breast-feeding is going for depressed mothers.
Their best guess is that pre-existing depression contributes to nursing problems by lowering a mom’s pain tolerance. A new study the group is working on shows that new moms who feel anxious also have lower levels of oxytocin. Causal factors the other way are not hard to guess at: there’s tremendous pressure on new mom’s to breastfeed, and many of us have a huge emotional investment in doing it. If you’re struggling to feed your new baby, that has to spur some hard feelings.
Did you experience either post-partum depression or trouble breastfeeding? What do you think of the link between the two?
Photo: dlisbona
I struggled with BF my first and if I would have stuck with it, I’m convinced I would have had PPD. I had educated myself throughout my pregnancy and was determined to BF because of all the benefits. I took classes, read books, met with the lactation consultant in the hospital, etc. I had a overly supportive husband who wanted me to BF, a supportive mother who stayed with us in the early weeks, etc. But it was very hard, I had a lot of pain, and my son was failing to thrive. I was crying all the time and miserable and starting to feel negative feelings towards my son and dreading every feeding. When I finally threw in the towel and switched to bottle feeding, everything turned around. My son started gaining weight, sleeping more and was a very happy baby. I felt 100x better about everything and showed no signs of depression. When I had my next three kids I had no doubts – I was bottle feeding. I did not want to go back into that dark hole I was in again, especially when there were older kids to take care of. With each of my next kids I was the happiest mom you could meet from their births on. And they are the happiest and healthiest kids you could meet (not obese, very smart, no allergies, no ear infections).
I was bound and determined to breastfeed my son before I gave birth, and now I could kick myself for not taking a breastfeeding class. I thought it would come naturally. I had a terrible time in the hospital, because I couldn’t get him to latch without me crying in terrible pain, he was a sleepy baby, and thus I was busting my butt to pump colostrum and feed it to him with a syringe. I hated giving him formula, but the on-call doctor from our family practice insisted that I do it, and the nurses said it was best for him, even though he was making plenty of dirty and wet diapers. It took a lot of support from my mom, husband and the lactation consultants at the hospital to help me finally get the hang of things. But I felt like I was failing as a mom, because I wasn’t able to nurse. That feeling of failure, combined with my type-A personality, definitely led me to develop PPD. The biggest factor in getting over it, other than taking my meds, was working with my therapist to get over the perfectionism and anal-retentiveness. She told me that attitude is one of the biggest indicators of risk for PPD. I’ve seen a common thread in lots of “I couldn’t nurse” stories: the writer expected nursing to be a walk in the park, come naturally, and felt like they were screwing up if they couldn’t do it. Maybe it’s all tied to the issue of perfectionism.
Despite taking a prenatal breastfeeding class, I had trouble and serious pain less than a week in. I went to bf’ing support groups, had 3 lactation consults, and a great supply, but quickly developed cracks and subsequent infections that were just a horrible experience. My “baby blues” quickly turned to PDD and even though I exclusively pumped for that first year, I felt like such a failure. I never understood how much I was emotionally invested in breastfeeding, and the depression lasted long after the breastfeeding pain went away. It was the source of all of my guilt (even moreso than working) and I found there was very little support available to specifically address my mood symptoms. Women should be educated about this long before they give birth, and further, provided with direct and concrete guidance to find support groups, medication, and therapy if it does happen.
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