I too have been thinking about depressed mothers during this thread, 
Marit. :-)

Two points I'd like to raise.

One, a depressed mother isn't always depressed with the baby, and this 
isn't discussed often.  When depression and babies are mentioned, people 
easily jump to PPD.  When, in fact, a lot of women have depression full 
stop.  That they got pregnant and birthed, is just something that 
happened during their depression.  So it is perfectly possible to be 
extremely depressed, and not have a problem with the baby at all.  In 
fact, the baby can be the area of joy and complete happiness, in and 
around the depression with everything else.  I scored 23 on the 
Edinburgh scale at points in my post-partum period - but I also scored 
it before the baby was born!  But there was never any question of the 
depression preventing excellent interaction with the baby.   I wasn't 
depressed about having a baby, or with the baby, at all.  This is a 
really important point if a mother is considering taking 
anti-depressants, as the issue of unknown potential harm on residual use 
of anti-Ds, is now not being balanced against risks to the baby from 
lack of interaction with the mother.  So it's an important factor in 
discussing depression in woman who happen to be mothers of newborns, as 
opposed to women who are suffering from post-partum depression.

Secondly, and this is for you Marit - not a typewriter in sight!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070313150515.htm

A far more recent report on how mothers who are not interacting with the 
baby, can be taught those cues and how to do it effectively.  Although 
I'm not sure if there was any breastfeeding in this study cohort.  :-)

Morgan Gallagher

(In awe of Marit's English skills!)


Marit Olanders wrote:
> Fleur, I've also been thinking about depressed mothers as this 
> discussion has been going on. I agree that we didn't discuss depressed 
> mothers in the first place. The study you mention seems intresting.


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