Dear colleagues: 

I just posted this on my professional facebook page, so I thought I would share it here, too: 

Many lactation specialists are familiar with postpartum depression. But, did you know that about one in six pregnant women and one in ten new mothers experiences anxiety? Did you also know that prepartum anxiety is associated with breastfeeding cessation and that cessation further predicts an increase in postpartum anxiety? (See the new research "Breastfeeding cessation and symptoms of anxiety and depression" below.) And did you know that anxiety is related to poverty? Consider that 53% of infants born in the United States are served by WIC which provides support to breastfeeding mothers. Almost two-thirds of women who participate in WIC live in families whose income is below the poverty level. And in another recent study, “Is it Generalized Anxiety Disorder or Poverty? An Examination of Poor Mothers and Their Children,” US researchers conclude: "Our findings suggest that anxiety in poor mothers is usually not a psychiatric problem but a reaction to severe environmental deficits. Thus, assessment should include careful attention to contextual factors and environmental deficits as playing a role in the presentation of symptoms. Labeling an individual with a diagnosis, especially if it is inaccurate, has a serious social stigma...." and "...assessment and interventions should be targeted at the environmental level...." What does all this mean for lactation specialists? Just as we screen for physical risk factors, such as tongue tie, that may result in breastfeeding cessation, assessment of the mother-baby dyad must include screening of maternal mental health and of the adequacy of a mother's environment--followed by appropriate referrals to help a mother address her needs. Mothers experiencing prepartum and postpartum anxiety and/or living in poverty need extra support for breastfeeding. 

Breastfeeding cessation and symptoms of anxiety and depression: a longitudinal cohort study ( http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/12/36/abstract ) 

National Survey of WIC Participants: Final Report ( http://www.fns.usda.gov/ora/menu/published/wic/FILES/WICSurvey.htm ) 

Is it Generalized Anxiety Disorder or Poverty? An Examination of Poor Mothers and their Children ( http://www.springerlink.com/content/e0776677g1h8q662/?MUD=MP ) 

Cynthia 

-- 
Cynthia Good Mojab, MS, IBCLC, RLC, CATSM 
www.lifecirclecc.com 
www.lactspeak.com/speaker/cynthiagood-mojab 
www.facebook.com/CGoodMojab 
http://lifespantkd.blogspot.com 

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