Mr. Knox writes:

>"From coverage in the UK press and from the link there is no mention of
> >how she fed her babies - I assume that in the US the coverage has >delved
>into all facets of the case.  Are you claiming that exclusive BF >will
>prevent PND [which may progress to psychosis]? I know women for >whom the 2
>have coincided and who have pondered whether they would have >fallen prey
>to PND if they had NOT been BF...."

The papers in the US have not said how she fed her children, but in order to
have 5 children in 7 years, you pretty much have to not be breastfeeding
them, or not breastfeed them exclusively or for very long.  With 'ecological
breastfeeding' of very frequent feeds, including at night, and exclusive
breastfeeding for the first 4-6 months and continued frequent breastfeeding
after that for several years, most women (not ALL) experience at least 6
months and up to 3 years of lactational amenorrhea, and typical birth
spacing (in the absence of any other birth control) of 3-4 years.

Oxytocin is a powerful mood elevator, and oxytocin is present in
breastfeeding mothers at much higher levels than in bottle-feeding mothers.

Thus, there is both an indirect and a direct way in which breastfeeding
might have made a difference in this case -- indirect by reducing the number
of children under the age of 7 years that she had to cope with, and direct
by increasing the oxytocin in her bloodstream.

Will exclusive breastfeeding prevent all cases of post-partum depression
and/or psychosis?  No, of course not.  And there are no doubt many other
factors involved in this case, some of which we may never know.

I had a graduate student complete her Master's research thesis on the
mood-elevating effects of oxytocin.  Post-partum depression is both more
common and more severe among bottle-feeding women.

Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Anthropology and Nutrition
Texas A&M University


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