L Acheson, Family Violence and Breast-feeding.  Arch Fam Med 1995;
4:650-652.

Abstract:  "A a retrospective review of medical records was conducted for
800 pregnancies followed up to delivery in one family practice.  The review
revealed a previously unsuspected association between lack of breast-feeding
and physical and sexual abuse of the woman and/or her children.  This
anecdotal association, not previously reported, is worth studying using more
rigorous methods."

The author comments that while this association was anecdotal only "...the
38-fold difference in frequency of identified domestic violence and child
sexual molestation between the group that successfully breastfed and the
group that did not is striking enough to warrent further investigation.
Plausible spychophysiologic mechanisms can be adduced to account for the
failure of lactation in a setting of severe physchological stess or abuse."


S Virden, The Relationship between Infant Feeding Method and Maternal Role
Adjustment, J Nurse-Midwifery 1988; 33(1):31-35.

"At one month post-partum women who breastfed their infants had scores
indicating less anxiety and more mutuality than women bottle feeding their
infants."


GC Anderson, Risk in mother-infant separtation postbirth, IMAGE:  J Nurs
Scholarship 1989; 21(4):196-198.

"The mother and infant are considered mutual care givers, whose
self-regulatory interaction post birth is mutually beneficial, conducive to
breastfeeding and cost effective.  Newborn infnats deprived of
self-regulatory (on cue) access to their mothers are considered at increased
physiological and developmental risk."


Barbara Wilson-Clay BSEd, IBCLC
Austin Lactation Associates
http://www.lactnews.com

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