I was searching the Medscape website for something else and came across
this very excellent article titled _Examining PTSD as a Complication of
Infertility_ at:
http://www.medscape.com/Medscape/womens.health/1997/v02.n03/w243.bartlik/w243.bartlik.html

At first, I was unsure what the article was about - but it is about how
women with preterm labor, infertility pregnancy and/or NICU/bad delivery
experiences can (and do) develop post-traumatic stress disorder. The
article also had something to say about initiation of normal grieving
for fetal/infant loss.

As I read the article's descriptions of these women, I recognized quite
a few of my lactation customers over the years (practicing in a big city
with lots of tertiary hospitals). I learned alot and gained a great deal
of new insight to these moms from reading this article. Especially
helpful were the behavior descriptions of these women - (perhaps their
lactation difficulties are directly related to the PTSD - do I hear a
study?) and by observing the presence of some of these behaviors, I can
mobilize her support network perhaps more aggressively than I might &
perhaps even take some responsibility to do so (at least initially)
(withdrawal from usual support is common). The editorial comments at the
end are especially good for LC practice application, I thought.

I  also wanted to share it with Lactnet because of the call to all
healthcare providers who are in contact with the postpartum woman to be
alert to the particular symptoms of PTSD, as care and treatment are
different than for pp depression and it is more common than thought.

Although not specifically a breastfeeding topic, this covers the
psycho-social support area of practice for us.  Hope y'all don't mind.
:-)

Katharine West
Sherman Oaks, CA