Anisa poignantly wrote: > Was I depressed after the birth? you'd better believe it. Some of this > was > adjustment disorder, pure and simple; some of it was hormonal, some of it > was a predisposition toward depression. a LOT of it was that I felt like a > failure because things didn't go the way they were "supposed" to go in some > idealized sense, which had a lot to do with the expectations I set for > myself. This depression was set up to some extent by many of the things I > read that presented natural birth as entirely normative and anything less as > a failure. > This is a crucial aspect that has not been mentioned in the discussion until now. There is ample evidence that depression can impede attachment and bonding. It gets in the way of normal daily tasks, including breastfeeding. To make matters worse, depressed mothers *need* to breastfeed more than other mothers to stabilize mood and to assist with mothering abilities which are threatened by the depression. Yet these mothers are often told to wean or are otherwise unable to gather support and assistance with breastfeeding. Not breastfeeding creates a pathological hormonal experience for mothers. We know that Oxytocin release is an important part of labor and birthing. While its function is not fully understood in all of its complexity, I like to refer to it as the crucial hormone of mothering. When C/S are scheduled--as seems to be the more common experience--, she loses the spontaneous release of oxytocin in labor. Epidurals are known to inhibit oxytocin release. A final, powerful release occurs when the baby's head creates transvaginal pressure. This is absent by definition with a C-Sec. I don't know that we give hormones their due, but I have to believe that they have an important function or they wouldn't be there. Perhaps these seemingly insignificant hormonal absences are but one of the many components that account for delayed lactogenesis in many mothers after a C/s. Even less serious breastfeeding difficulties on top of birth disappointment, history of depression, lack of familial support may be more than this mother can cope with, absent the normal endocrinological experience. I hope that those of us who teach are able to present honest and complete information in a way that lessens feelings of failure when the outcome isn't as planned, whether we are teaching about birth, breastfeeding, or other important life experiences. I hope that we are able to grieve with mothers who are saddened by their experiences, just as we celebrate with those who are happy. Nancy Williams, MA, MFT, IBCLC, CCE *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html