Hi Gerri,

In response to your post about postpartum depression (ppd) and breastfeeding,
while I don't have any information linking them directly either pro or con,
there's information about ppd in a book called "Adjustment and Growth the
Challenges of Life" 6th edition, Spencer A. Rathus and Jeffrey S. Nevid,
Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1995, Fort Worth, TX.  Since there is info
in the front of the book barring any reproduction or transmission in any form
or by any means, and they do include electronic transmission in their
description, I will not quote this book as I have not obtained permission
from the authors or publishers.  I think I will be safe giving you an idea of
what it says so you can decide if you'd like to try to obtain a copy of this
book for reference.  The book describes 3 different types of postpartum
depression.  Listed in degrees of severity from least to most severe they are
postpartum blues, postpartum depression, and postpartum psychosis,
respectively.  The text discusses possible reasons for ppd as well as
symptoms and occurrence rates.  It doesn't go into the relationship between
ppd and breastfeeding, but if you want to see one theory on the importance of
the feeding situtation on the psychological trust development of a newborn
and how that plays into their adult psychological mental health, Eric
Erickson has an interesting theory which is outlined in "Human Development",
7th edition, Diane E. Papalia and Sally Wendkos Olds, 1998, McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc., Boston, MA.  I'm sure you can find his theory in many
psychology texts.

Hope this helps,
Veronica Scott,
Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Coordinator, WIC

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