Many people have requested more info about my statement about "hormonal
grieving" -- here is some more background.

This concept came out of the work of one of my master's students, Kelly
Peyton, who did her thesis on why post-partum depression is so common in
industrialized countries and so rare in "traditional" societies.  Most of
the research to date has attributed the differences to the strong support
networks that traditional mothers often have -- extended families, always
live in the same place, lots of traditional rituals surrounding birth, and
being waited on hand and foot for varying lengths of time after the birth,
etc.  Kelly's work (both reading of the biochemical, psychological and
cross-cultural literature and fieldwork in Eastern Europe) suggested that
some of the difference can also be attributed to the different rates of
breastfeeding in the two contexts.  Breastfeeding releases oxytocin, the
"hormone of affiliation" responsible for triggering mothering behaviors in
all mammals.  Oxytocin has been shown to be a powerful mood elevator as well.

Mothers who are not breastfeeding don't have normal post-partum levels of
oxytocin and prolactin in their bloodstream.  Instead, their bodies
interpret the lack of breastfeeding as the death of the child -- as that is
the only circumstance in which pregnancy would not be followed by suckling
-- and their bodies go into a cycle of "grief" prior to gearing up again for
another pregnancy (return of ovulation).  However, in the real world, the
baby has NOT died, it is there, needing care and attention, perhaps crying
more than normal (because of the absence of the comfort of breastfeeding
and/or gastrointestinal upset because of formula intolerance).  So the
mother has to care for and cope with a fussy newborn, when she doesn't have
the hormonal resources she needs, and in fact, is "hormonally grieving."

This concept was also informed by my reading of the relevant literature
about, and personal experience with, the birth of a handicapped child.  Not
only do parents have to cope with the real child they have, who may have
immediate medical problems and/or a poor prognosis for later functioning,
but they are also grieving the death of the "normal" child they were
expecting.

Kathy Dettwyler