Mothering Forum banner

this really made me angry

1K views 12 replies 11 participants last post by  hunnybumm 
#1 ·
Here is a story I ifound on Yahoo news concerning new mothers and the risk of depression.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061205/...ental_problems

Anyhoo, this quote really got under my skin:
"Physical changes after childbirth might partly explain why women are vulnerable, including fluctuating hormone levels, Munk-Olsen said. These, alone or combined with sleep deprivation and the demands of breast-feeding could trigger mental problems, she said."

Aren't women that breastfeed less likely to suffer from ppd?
 
#2 ·
Eesh.

You know, I'm of the mind that it's not so much the demands of mothering that set women up for "mental problems", as those demands in the context of the crazy expectations our society hands us.
 
#3 ·
I had PPD, brought on because I had real low supply problems (due to a medical condition). I had assumed I would be able to breastfeed with no problem, and not being able to exclusively breastfeed caused me a lot of psychological trauma.

I'm sure breastfeeding is preventative when it comes to depression for some women. For others, it can easily be a cause. This is an unfortunate fact. Hiding it won't do anyone any good.
 
#4 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by funshine View Post
Eesh.

You know, I'm of the mind that it's not so much the demands of mothering that set women up for "mental problems", as those demands in the context of the crazy expectations our society hands us.
I think this is very true I felt very conflicted between what I was "supposed" to do and what my instincts told me to. Like with co-sleeping I felt guilty for doing it because it wasn't "safe" or I felt guilty b/c my baby obviousely needed to sleep with me. I couldn't win and the constant guilt definitly added to my depression.

Quote:

Originally Posted by spughy View Post
I had PPD, brought on because I had real low supply problems (due to a medical condition). I had assumed I would be able to breastfeed with no problem, and not being able to exclusively breastfeed caused me a lot of psychological trauma.

I'm sure breastfeeding is preventative when it comes to depression for some women. For others, it can easily be a cause. This is an unfortunate fact. Hiding it won't do anyone any good.
Though I'm very sorry that in your case BF contributed to your depression for most women the opposite is true, and the hormones released during nursing help the mother relax. Therefore using it as a blanket statement in the article is irresponsible. It's like using the story of a guy who gets thrown clear of a car that then explodes to recommend not wearing seatbelts. For every 1 guy saved several thousand would die.
 
#5 ·
Quote:
"Physical changes after childbirth might partly explain why women are vulnerable, including fluctuating hormone levels, Munk-Olsen said. These, alone or combined with sleep deprivation and the demands of breast-feeding could trigger mental problems, she said."
"Could trigger" not "WILL trigger". For some women who for whatever reason are vulnerable to PPD, this is true.

Should the facts not be stated just because they do not apply to ALL women? How is that helpful?

I can see how it would have been better if the fact (is it a fact supported by peer-reviewed studies?) that not breastfeeding increases the incidence of PPD had been included as well. What it sounds like to me is, as pointed out, the demands of motherhood itself and this society's unreasonable expectations are the problem, not necessarily how the baby is being fed.
 
#6 ·
I would have been more interested in the study if they had actually researched some real questions- such as:

- How does a woman's perception of her birth experience reflect on her mental status post-partum? (ie: did she feel bullied into decisions she wouldn't otherwise have made? Did she feel as though her plans and wishes were taken into account?)

and

- How does the support a woman recieved reflect on her mental status post-partum? (in other words, did she have someone with her who encouraged and assisted in breastfeeding and latch issues? Did she have a care provider who gave her resources for the information she was interested in?)

: "Demands of breast feeding..."
 
#7 ·
For me, the opposite was true. I had terrible PPD and had I not been breastfeeding my daughter, I would have completely run away. Seriously. I had fantasies about driving to California, but I knew my daughter depended on me for her nutrition. In her first few months of life, breastfeeding was the only connection we had. Later, when we both began healing from my PPD, breastfeeding was our saving grace.
 
#8 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Meiri View Post
"Could trigger" not "WILL trigger". For some women who for whatever reason are vulnerable to PPD, this is true.

Should the facts not be stated just because they do not apply to ALL women? How is that helpful?

I can see how it would have been better if the fact (is it a fact supported by peer-reviewed studies?) that not breastfeeding increases the incidence of PPD had been included as well. What it sounds like to me is, as pointed out, the demands of motherhood itself and this society's unreasonable expectations are the problem, not necessarily how the baby is being fed.
If the article said "while for most women BF reduces PPD, in a small number of cases it is a contributing factor" that would be statin a fact in a responsible manner. Sure at first BF can be hard and stressful but the hormones your body produces will outweigh the stress for most women; plus it gives women a great sence of pride to see there baby growing at their breast. Statistacly women who BF have a lower incedence of PPD so in an article mostly about statistcal incidences of PPD it should not be stated as a cause of PPD.

The way it was presented here though was more like an article on breast cancer warning women to avoid nuts with no further explanation. Though it is true some women must avoid nut b/c they are allergic to them, eating nuts reduces the risk of breast cancer for most women.
 
#9 ·
I think its our society's unrealistic expectations of mothers, shared by many new mothers themselves, that set us up for PPD, not bfing in and of itself. And SOME of those unrealistic expectations are around bfing. We tell them "breast is best" and that you're not a complete mother unless you do, but then leave them high and dry to actually succeed.

I had tremendous bfing struggles. Yes, they contributed to my PPD. But I was able to overcome both because I had SUPPORT.

BTW - bfing has been shown to have a protective effect for the babies of mothers with PPD, because the mothers are more likely to interact with their infants while bfing.
 
#10 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Fiercemama View Post
I think its our society's unrealistic expectations of mothers, shared by many new mothers themselves, that set us up for PPD, not bfing in and of itself. And SOME of those unrealistic expectations are around bfing. We tell them "breast is best" and that you're not a complete mother unless you do, but then leave them high and dry to actually succeed.

I had tremendous bfing struggles. Yes, they contributed to my PPD. But I was able to overcome both because I had SUPPORT.

BTW - bfing has been shown to have a protective effect for the babies of mothers with PPD, because the mothers are more likely to interact with their infants while bfing.
I agree with this. I also think that way that women are treated prenatally, during childbirth, and post partum has a lot to do with that. We are expected to be "good" and listen to our OBs, and not question "beause we aren't the expert". Women are unconsciously or sometimes blantantly made to feel that if something goes wrong it's their fault, and their body must be defective or something. The "experts" have quite a lot of expectations they want us to live up to. They want us to birth "properly" with the lastest technology, and then they want to dictate how we raise our children. Anyone who doesn't measure up is labeled as "difficult", "controlling", "defiant", or worse, a "bad parent" or "unfit parent". I

Put that ball in motion and it's easy to see why so many women suffer from depression after childbirth. Now I'm not saying it's that way in every case, because obviously hormonal issues and other physical issues plus stress will play a huge role, and in some cases be the cause of the depression. I'm just saying that I think as a whole the way women are treated when pregnant and post partum certainly will, in my book, predispose them to PPD.
 
#11 ·
why do people defend that comment. It is destructive. Flat out destructive to breastfeeding.
eepsters comment is much better stating that breasting feeding is helpful to MOST women and that a SMALL number it may not help with PPD.
Why do we defend this stuff? It isn't ok for the media to continue to undermind breastfeeding. IT ISN'T OK!
That doesn't mean it is hidden, (why we even have to have this discussion on a probfing site I will never know) and that it isn't discussed, but when it is put out there like that it seems as if it is all the truth when it isn't.
Maybe the media should be focusing on all the other factors that may cause PPD... unsupport family, isolation, guilt, doctors, media telling you what is good and what is bad, having wierd illogicial expectations thrown at new moms from all sorts of "experts".

H
 
#12 ·
You all are acting as if PPD is a purely emotional issue, and not a bio-chemical imbalance. All the support in the world isn't going to fix something that has an organic, biological cause.

I like Eepster's suggested restatement very much. Thank-you, it was better than mine.

I'd have preferred the authors had stuck to the hormone fluctuations after giving birth as the cause, rather than trying to blame, or look like they were trying to blame, or even hint at trying to blame, breastfeeding.

But for some women those fluctuations do weird things. The blood pressure of our DD's old ped, nursing mom of 4, would go up when she was nursing. She did a small study on it, but I never heard if she found anything out about it beyond it being a quirk of her physiology.

To acknowledge that for a small, probably very small, segment of the population, breastfeeding might contribute to their problem while for most it helps ameliorate it is not to undermine breastfeeding.

I've seen far too many comments over the years (16) that I've had a interest in the topic from women who ended up quitting because breastfeeding was harder than they'd expected because they'd been given only rosy happy information about it, not actual facts that sometimes breastfeeding is difficult or painful (usually fixable, but not always), etc.

IMO, it's just as patronizing and insulting to withold the hard facts about breastfeeding as it is to withold the risks of formula feeding--so mom don't "feel guilty".

Just because a particular situation is rare, or even very rare, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
 
#13 ·
Luckily my experience was opposite. I had horrible depression before I was pregnant (a suicide attempt a couple weeks before accidental conception) and it continued through my pregnancy. I had bad morning sickness so I just stayed in bed all day everyday for about 3 months. I had a couple of good months, then I spent a good amount of time in bed the end of my pregnancy.

I was prepared for PPD, I went to a counselor once a month throughout my pregnancy and made an appointment as soon as my son was born, and continue to go once a month for the first 6 months. But the PPD never came, and I found that having my son / BFing actually 'cured' my depression. He is now 3yo and I have a 1yo and the depression has never came back.

I have also be BFing or pregnant (or both) for close to 4 years, but the depression did not go away until DS#1 was born. I don't credit my depression staying away to support, because I didn't really have a whole lot until my son got a little older, but I do credit at least part of it to BFing. Not to mention that for all of my life there had been a 'hole' in my heart that was never filled, having my son filled that whole (hope that doesn't sound too hokey).

PPD is a definite risk to every woman regardless of her past and it should be talked about and published. Thankfully some famous woman are bringing it into magazines and into the public. But I don't necissarily think that BFing should be attributed to the cause of PPD. BFing difficulty can make things worse, but PPD is a chemical issue. BFing can help with those chemicals, but of course not always. There is still that small amount of woman who need something to help regulate those chemicals.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top