Hi folks...I need some help with a mom suffering bad ppd (primary doc
prescribed Zoloft at 8 weeks pp).  Hx as follows:  mom had healthy, norm
first preg and easy delivery with few drugs but baby slightly jaudiced.
She was very confident that bf is "natural" so what could go wrong?
(Didn't want my help during preg because of this).  Well, ten days pp
baby's wt was down 14% and docs recommended supps via SNS.  I was called in
(she's 1.5 hrs away) at 2 weeks (Mom crying and saying "SO, I was wrong--it
isn't so easy---HELP!).  Mom and dad both demoralized and exhausted with a
sleepy baby (I advised usual to wake baby--but this baby hates having
clothing removed).  I suggested lots of skin to skin contact and put mom to
bed for 2 days (which drove her nuts). She had been doing lots of
entertaining, cleaning, "field trips", etc. so I thought she and baby
needed rest.  I received a call from dad (who has a PhD in fish bio) who
wanted to know about synotocin.  I gave info, but suggested that there were
other ways of building milk supply (and at that point I thought it was a
supply problem since she told me she was leaking, but never engorged).
They wanted pharmaceuticals instead of herbs, so I suggested asking ob for
Reglan.

At the 6 week visit, OB put mom on mini-pill and 6 days later mom called me
sounding almost suicidal (certainly more depressed than I'd ever heard her
in the 16 years I've known her).  She asked if it could be the pill and I
said possibly, but that she should do what her heart tells her.  If she's
so depressed, who feels like having sex anyway?  I recommended the
usual...get household help, rest, exercise, baths, anything that makes her
feel human.  At 8 weeks, she went off minipill and started Zoloft.  At 10
weeks pp, mom feeling much better.  ATt 11 weeks (today) mom calls panicked
over a post she read on iVillage about Reglan causing depression.  She says
she's having some rough days (in spite of Zoloft) and wants to know if it's
the Reglan.

I've told her that Reglan isn't my first choice in perceived milk
insufficiency but also that I've not seen major depressive episodes with
it.  Have any of you???  What I think she really needs is some fennugreek,
thistle, red clover, and alfalfa with TONS of bedside support as to why
she's doing this.  TIA!

: )Chris Hafner-Eaton, PhD, MPH, CHES, IBCLC  email: [log in to unmask]  : )
: )HSR & Health Educational Consultant        voice/fax: 541 753 7340   : )
: )------------**CHANGE THE WORLD, NURTURE A CHILD!**------------------ : )